Baptism, what happens?

Read the Catechism in a Year

Catechism in a Year: Day 173

Part Two: How We Celebrate the Christian Mysteries
- Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church
-- Chapter One: The Sacraments of Initiation -- BAPTISM

Question 200: What happens in baptism?

In Baptism we become members of the Body of Christ, sisters and brothers of our Redeemer, and children of God. We are freed from sin, snatched from death, and destined from then on for a life in the joy of the redeemed.

Being baptized means that my personal life story is submerged in the stream of God’s love. “Our life”, says Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “now belongs to Christ, and no longer to ourselves … . At his side and, indeed, drawn up in his love, we are freed from fear. He enfolds us and carries us wherever we may go—he who is Life itself” (April 7, 2007). 

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Question 201: What is the significance of receiving a name in Baptism?

Through the name that we receive in Baptism God tells us: “I have called you by name, you are mine” (Is 43:1).

In Baptism a person is not dissolved into an anonymous divinity, but rather is affirmed precisely in his individuality. To be baptized by a name signifies that God knows me, he says Yes to me and accepts me forever in my unrepeatable uniqueness.

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Question 202: Why should Christians choose the names of saints at Baptism?
There are no better examples than the saints and no better helpers. If my namesake is a saint, I have a friend with God.
Dig Deeper: Corresponding CCC section (1262-1280) and other references here.
Recommended Reading: Jacob's Ladder by Dr. Peter Kreeft