Baptism by desire

I wrote a lengthy post about conversion to Islam last night just before I went to bed. It is a struggle because I want to be impartial to the matter. This morning, when I just opened my eyes, for some strange reasons, the matter baptism by desire popped into my mind.

Baptism by desire was taught during our RCIA. We were told that we can baptise a person if let’s say the person is dying and she or he has shown the love of God but did not have the chance to be baptised in the regular way. What we need is water to be poured over the forehead while we say “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, I baptised you (name of person).”

In the absence of water, the facilitator told us we can use saliva to make the cross. Bizarre as it sounds, it is part of the faith. Our facilitator baptised her mom this way when the old lady had a fall and was dying. Her mom believed in Jesus but she didn’t follow the faith as in going to church. So, our facilitator made the decision to baptise her mom on the spot before she breathed her last.

Fr. John Hardon THE QUESTION AND ANSWER CATECHISM

IS BAPTISM OF WATER NECESSARY FOR SALVATION? It is commonly taught by the
Church that baptism of water is necessary for salvation for those who have
not reached the use of reason.

WHAT IS BAPTISM OF DESIRE? Baptism of desire is the implicit desire for
baptism of water by a person who makes an act of perfect love of God,
based on faith and with a sincere sorrow for one’s sins. Such was the case
in the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter encountered pagans who, moved by
the grace of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the greatness of God. “Peter
himself then said, ‘Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these
people, now they have received the Holy Spirit….?’” (Acts 10:46-47).

IS BAPTISM OF DESIRE A SACRAMENT? Baptism of desire is not a sacrament;
it does not imprint the baptismal character or enable a person to receive
the other sacraments. Nevertheless, it does confer sanctifying grace.

Next, what bugs me is how other faiths have converted to another faiths at their deathbeds and these have gone unmentioned in public. However, some cases were made into headlines like the Muslims converts. I personally have seen the anger of non-Christians family members who were not happy when their parent baptised as a Christian when the person was ailing. The dissatisfied members will griped and talked at funerals which are conducted as a Christian funeral while the other members were so rooted in a more elaborate ones.

Back to the case I was referring to, I think hard about it and realise that all these were due to the faults of authorities and not the religion. If they have taken a softer approach, the officers have been more compassionate and the highest authority of all have set down ground rules, then, there will be less animosities. Unfortunately, nothing is done and things will remain tense.

I pray to God that people will learn to respect, love and accept one another first before they pushed their authorities around in the name of God.

Note : Please note that it is an offence in Malaysia for other faiths to propagate their religions to Muslims. You can be fined RM3K or 2 years imprisonment or both if you do so. Therefore, my note on Baptism by Desire only applies to Catholic families where they really are sure one of their family member is truly a firm believer of Christ and that person is on the verge of passing away and there is no Catholic priests or elders around. Please do not misunderstand in anyway.