“God dreamt of each of your children from all eternity, seeing and loving in each one of them the beauty of His Only Son.  His deepest desire in creating them was that they might come to know and love Him as their tender and compassionate Father, and know and love His Son.  To do this, He gave them to you.  At their baptism, you gave them back to Him.  This is the essence of your calling, on which you will be judged:  on that day when they die and first glimpse the eternal Father’s face, they will be able to instinctively say, “I recognize You; You remind me of my father and my mother.”

Monsignor John Esseff

"Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.  Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in his mission: 'Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and the word.'"

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1213
 

"The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necssary for salvation.  He also comands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.  Baptism is necssary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the responsibility of asking for this sacrament.  The Church does not know of any means other than Baptsim that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are..."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1257