A Reflection on My First Baptism Experience
Each religion has different ways of welcoming a person into their church. My family’s religion is Catholic. In our religion, we welcome someone by performing a baptism. A baptism is performed, usually on infants, to welcome them into the Catholic faith and to remove the ‘original sin’ that they were born with. An original sin is not a personal sin, but a sin that is spiritually passed to all humans because of disobedience of the first humans, Adam and Eve. When a baptism is being performed the parents of the child or infant must invite the godparent that they have chosen for their child.
In the website, The Arlington Catholic Herald, it has stated that “a godparent is a person who is present at the child’s baptism and promises to take responsibility to help the child follow and continue the Catholic religion. ” The child or infant that is baptized should wear white; this is to symbolize the purity that a child has and to symbolize the transition of a new life. Then both parents and godparents must bring the child to the water font, where the priest pours blessed water over the child’s head three times while saying a prayer. The spoken prayer is, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. ” At the end of the baptism, the original sin is washed away and the child can now begin their new life as a Catholic. So, I want to share with of my experience in the "My First Baptism Experience Essay" paper.
In my culture, religion is a big part of our lives. I remember the day of my baptism clearly and how I felt while getting baptized. On that day, my mother woke me up early to prepare me for the ceremony. She had dressed me in a small puffy white dress and had curled my hair neatly. I remember being slightly frazzled that day; I wondered why I was being dressed up so nicely. At first, I assumed that I was getting prepared for a regular family party and did not question anything as soon as we got into a taxi. The taxi drove and it stopped in front of a huge church. As I exited the car, my parents had led me inside. While stepping into the holy place, the smell of the ancient oak floated around the air. I let my eyes roam around in curiosity to my surroundings. I began to wander around the room. The tips of my fingers would brush against the smooth wooden benches. The view of the place was breathtaking, the windows had colorfully stained glasses, the wooden benches neatly lined up, and more than a dozen white candles were lit in the back of the room. I do not recall how long I was admiring the room, but it was an sight that I can never forget. Once I stopped roaming around, I heard my name being called. I could see my whole family, including my grandparents and aunts and uncles, were seated at one of the wooden benches. By that time more people began to come into the large church and sat down on the benches. I noticed that other children around my age were dressed up in white as well. My confusion returned as I asked my mother why were the children only dressed in white. My mother had explained to me that children who were getting baptized needed to wear white. I remembered looking at her puzzled, I did not know what the word baptize meant. In a few words, she responded that baptism is a ceremony welcoming young children into the religion. I finally understood why I was dressed up nicely. As the last couple people walked in, the doors of the church closed shut. A middle-aged priest with a long white robe walked the front of the room, greeting people as he made his way. Once he stood as the center of attention, he spoke in volume explaining to the people why they attended a church that day. I recalled seeing the many faces of the people who attended and how they had a focused expression upon their faces while listening closely to the words of the priest. I watched closely of the priest's movements as he walked near a small water font and began to call out the names of the children. With his thunderous voice, the priest called my name. My parents, godparents, and I made our way to the water font where the priest stood next to. The Priest had instructed me to let my head hover over the water font. I followed the instructions, from the corner of my eye I watched the priest pick up a white colored seashell as he then began to pour water over my head. The cold holy water caught me by surprise. I remember shivering at the cold water running through my hair as goosebumps had formed on my skin while the priest said a prayer and continued to pour the holy water on my head. By the time that the baptism was finished, I lifted up my head and saw the smiles of my whole family. I returned the smile and walked over to them and one by one they congratulated me.
From then on I was an official member of the Catholic religion and still continue to practice my beliefs. I was very young to remember the exact details about my baptism. However, just by the expression of my family’s faces; I knew it was an important event. As the year past, I learned more about my religion and the importance of baptism. In my family religion continues to be an important part in our lives. It was a guide that helps build a strong foundation of morals and values around our beliefs. Even though I don’t go to church often, my faith and love in God continues.
