• Baptism incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God's people....pardons all our sins, rescues us from the power of darkness, and brings us to the dignity of adopted children....  Hence we are called, and are indeed the children of God.

• By signing us with the gift of the Spirit, confirmation makes us more completely the image of the Lord and fills us with the Holy Spirit, so that we may bear witness to him before all the world and work to bring the Body of Christ to its fullness as soon as possible.

• Finally...we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man so that we may have eternal life, and show forth the unity of God's people.  By offering ourselves with Christ, we share in the universal sacrifice...and we pray for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that the whole human race may be brought into the unity of God's family.

• The three sacraments of Christian initiation closely combine to bring us, the faithful of Christ, to his full stature and to enable us to carry out the mission of the entire people of God in the Church and in the world.

• The preparation for baptism and Christian instruction are both of vital concern to God's people, the Church, which hands on and nourishes the faith received from the apostles.  It is most important that catechists and laypersons should work with priests and deacons in the preparation for baptism.  In the actual celebration, the people of God...should take an active part.

                                                                   --Christian Initiation, General Introduction