Baptismal Blunder

Seeing how words are the soul of a sacrament

02/19/2022

Jas 3:1-10 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly, for we all fall short in many respects. If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions.

Have you heard the old adage, “Loose lips sink ships”? It originated during  World War II here in the United States. The U.S. government, specifically the FBI, was trying to stamp out spying by German agents, and used this propaganda campaign to encourage Americans to stay “zip lip.” And it worked very effectively! Almost overnight, German espionage in the United States evaporated.

This maxim was also the rule of thumb they taught us in the seminary. A priest’s lips should not be “loose” when he comes to celebrate the sacraments. For example, loose lips can sink ships when it comes to the confessional. You may know that if a priest divulges anything he hears in confession, he incurs the penalty of excommunication. When a priest’s lips are loose, therefore, he sinks his own ship, spiritually speaking.

Recently, the national media has caught fire with the scandal of “loose lips” as it reported the misuse of words during a baptism. Have you heard about this “baptismal blunder”? On February 14, 2022 the New York Times reported three different instances where a Catholic minister of baptism used the wrong words to baptize a baby. That is, instead of saying, “I baptize you,” he said, “We baptize you.” Now, does that sound like a small mistake to you? Well, apply the adage of “loose lips sink ships” and you will see that our words matter a lot, and when we are the ministers of the sacraments, our words matter the most. Our words “make or break” the sacraments, just like Americans’ words would “make or break” German espionage efforts in World War II.

Let me explain why the words of a sacrament are so special that they cannot be altered in the least. When a minister speaks sacramental words, he (or she) is uttering “the form” of the sacrament. We could compare this "form" to the "soul" of a sacrament. The form (the words) is united to “the matter” of the sacrament – say water, bread, wine, oil, etc. – which we can call “the body” of the sacrament. Just like a human person is a composite of body and soul, so each sacrament is a composite of matter and form.

When you change the words of baptism, therefore, from “I baptize” to “We baptize” you are essentially changing the soul of the sacrament. This is why the words of baptism cannot be altered. Think of other such instances: the words of consecration at Mass cannot be changed from “This is MY body” to “This is OUR body”; the words of marriage cannot be changed from “Until DEATH do we part,” to “Until DIVORCE do we part.” In other words if you take the right words out of the sacrament, it is like you are taking the soul out of the body, and the predictable result is a dead sacrament. That is, the sacrament does not communicate the life of Jesus to us.

To some observers, the Church’s response to this baptismal blunder has seemed excessively strict, legalistic and draconian. That impression is exaggerated when one considers the sacramental “no man’s land” into which these pseudo-baptized Catholics have been hurled head-long. The practical upshot is that if a person has not been baptized, he or she has not validly received any additional sacraments. Why? Well, baptism is traditionally called “the doorway” to the other sacraments. So, if you have not entered the sacramental door, you have not received the other sacramental riches inside the Father’s House.

A priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Fr. Zachary Boazman, saw a video of his own baptism as a baby many years earlier. To his shock and horror, the deacon who baptized him had said, “We baptize you.” Suddenly, Fr. Boazman realized he had not received any sacrament validly. His archbishop promptly baptized him, confirmed him, and a few days later ordained him a deacon and later a priest. That deacon’s loose lips had sunk Fr. Boazman’s sacramental ship more effectively than a torpedo from a German u-boat sunk many American warships.

I believe there will be a lot of fallout from this baptismal blunder, both political and practical. Politcally, the Church and her teachings may be maligned and ridiculed by her enemies. St. Peter, the first pope, warned: “Your opponent the devil is prowling about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8). And practically, conscientious Catholics may feel concerned about the validity of their own baptism and subsequent sacraments. But there may be some positive gains, too. Like what?

The Church as a whole, and especially her ministers, may learn a valuable lesson about how special and sacred the sacraments are. They cannot be changed according to our fancies and feelings; they are precious family heirlooms entrusted to us by our Lord. He is the principal Agent of every sacrament and therefore the proper pronoun to be used is the first person singular, “I”. It is Jesus who baptizes babies, not a priest, or a deacon, much less the community. To change that pronoun is not only reckless but wrong; indeed, it takes the soul out of a sacrament. “Loose lips sink ships” is a great motto for Catholic ministers of the sacraments. Why? Well, because the spiritual war we are fighting is infinitely more important than World War II.

Praised be Jesus Christ!