Why Baptize Cornelius If He Already Received the Holy Spirit?

The story of Cornelius and his family stands out because it is the only time that someone is recorded as receiving the Holy Spirit before baptism.

However it is important to note that the Church does not teach that God is bound by the sacraments (Catechism, 1257). God can impart his grace and the Holy Spirit upon whomever he chooses, whenever he chooses.

The fact that Peter chose to baptize Cornelius and his family is evidence of how serious the Apostles considered the reception of the sacraments to be. It would appear to me that Peter is performing the equivalent of the modern concept of a “conditional baptism.” There are times when it appears that an individual might very well have been validly baptized but there’s no definitive proof, at such times the priest would perform a conditional baptism to ensure the sacrament was properly received. Peter, it appears to me, is doing something similar. It is apparent to him that Cornelius has received the Holy Spirit but has not received the sacraments in an ordinary manner. Peter was “covering all the bases” and avoiding having to judge future claims of individuals having received the grace of God directly from God.

When confronted with unusual cases clergy often go the “safest route” to normalize the individual in the Church.