• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

Were the apostles baptized?/ What should a homily be about?

March 25, 2021
By Father Kenneth Doyle
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Question Corner

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Q. I am a 90-year-old cradle Catholic, and there is something I have always wondered about. Is there anywhere in the Scriptures that mentions when the apostles were baptized? (Indianapolis)

A. There is nothing in the Scriptures that describes the apostles having been baptized by Jesus — but of course the Gospels provide only the broad outlines of the public life of Christ and not every detail.

I think that it would be safe to assume that Jesus did baptize the Twelve. Just before his ascension, Jesus makes it clear that baptism is a basic part of becoming his disciple; in the final words of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commissions the apostles to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

In John’s Gospel (3:22), we read that, “after this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing.” So I take it as a logical conclusion that Jesus had first baptized his own apostles.

Q. We have a new pastor who is a fine and holy man, but his preaching on Sunday rarely ever mentions the Scriptures that have just been proclaimed. He does catechetical series on things like understanding the parts of the Mass, the liturgical year, our patron saint — as well as other topics that might be interesting to people who are new to Catholicism but are uninspiring to us who learned these basic lessons years ago.

I thought that a homily was supposed to help us “break open the word of God.” Am I wrong that Vatican II asked that priests and deacons preach homilies and not sermons? I try to read a Sunday reflection before coming to Mass, but I feel cheated when beautiful Scriptures are brushed aside in favor of a catechism lesson. (City and state withheld)

A. The reflection known as the homily is so integral to the celebration of the Mass that the Code of Canon Law requires that one be preached on Sundays and holy days of obligation and encourages it at every celebration of the Eucharist (No. 767).

And I agree with you: The homily should regularly be based on the scriptural readings for that day’s Mass. That’s not just my idea, but it accords with the direction offered in official church documents.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal — the church’s “guidebook” on the celebration of the liturgy — says that the homily “should be an explanation of some aspect of the readings from sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (No. 65).

In 2012, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document on the Sunday homily titled “Preaching the Mystery of Faith.”

In that document, in a section called “The Biblical Foundations for the Church’s Preaching Ministry,” the bishops noted: “This very integration of the homily into the texture of the liturgy warrants the use of the Lectionary readings as the basis for the homily.”

There might well be other opportunities for a catechetical series — perhaps a classroom setting after Mass — but that sort of “instruction” should not serve as a regular replacement for the homilist’s reflections on the word of God.

More Question Corner

JOB

Why would God allow Satan to torture Job?

Question Corner: Does reception of the Eucharist replace confession?

Question Corner: Can we bring the Precious Blood to the sick?

Question Corner: Do I need to attend my territorial parish?

Question Corner: Is the parish administrator the same thing as a pastor?

Question Corner: Are Jewish marriages valid to the Catholic Church?


Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Father Kenneth Doyle

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

JOB

Why would God allow Satan to torture Job?

OSV Editors: The atrocity against humanity in Gaza must end

How to grow in faith for back-to-school

New law will help families access America’s Catholic schools

Our faith is not afraid of questions

| Recent Local News |

Sister Rita Ann Naughton, I.H.M., dies at 88

St. Bernardine Choir celebrates 50 years of song, spirit and community

Grillo Family Reflection Space

Loyola University Maryland receives $1 million gift supporting aspiring educators, creation of reflection space

Sister Miriam Jansen, former director of international programs at Notre Dame of Maryland, dies at 86

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Men’s religious leaders confront change with fraternity and faith

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Planned Parenthood defunding remains in question amid legal challenges
  • Experts see US UNESCO exit as blow to historic preservation for churches, other sites
  • Thousands visit Blessed Frassati’s remains in Rome for Jubilee of Youth
  • Young teen’s relics a reminder for pilgrims that holiness ‘is not impossible’
  • Court dismisses case against prominent exorcist priest
  • Against the odds, CRS has delivered aid to 1.7 million in Gaza since 2023
  • Why would God allow Satan to torture Job?
  • Pope paves way for St. John Henry Newman to be formally named doctor of the church
  • Sister Rita Ann Naughton, I.H.M., dies at 88

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en