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Abigail,
Good question.
The Church teaches there are two
things that are necessary for salvation,
faith and Baptism. They are intrinsically
related as the internal act and the
external sign. There are two things
that should be taken into consideration
here:
- Faith cannot occur without grace,
and Baptism begins that life of
grace in Christ for the individual
person.
- The faith of the Church, symbolized
in the godparents and parents,
is what suffices for the child
at infant Baptism.
With Baptism, it is assured that
the child has been offered salvific
grace. If, when the child reaches
the age of reason, and he or she
has the freedom to reject God and
the priceless gift of the Catholic
faith they had been given, they would,
in effect, reject that baptismal
grace they were given as an infant.
The sacrament of Confession, which
is always available to sinners after
Baptism, would then be needed so the person could be reconciled with the faith again.
The Catholic Church usually does
practice the sacrament of Confirmation
at the time of adolescence, when
a person can formally accept the
gift of the Holy Spirit given to
them at Baptism and re-given again, for
a new purpose, at Confirmation.
One might ask:
- Why not just let the child grow
up and choose Baptism (himself|herself)?
I find it curious that most people
wouldn't say this about a child's:
- nutrition
- education
- health care, or
- anything else they find to be
important for the child
But when it comes to the most important
thing, which has eternal ramifications: (a
child's relationship with God and
eternal salvation), many people
would advocate letting children choose
this later on in life. It shows where
[their] priorities lie.
Your question is multi-dimensional,
so please respond again with feedback
if you were hoping to go in another
direction with this question.
Thanks,
Paul
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