SACRAMENTS

OVERVIEW

The sacraments may be defined as efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Our Lord and performed in His name by the Church, through which Christ produces in us the grace signified.

CHRIST-THE SACRAMENT OF GOD

A sacrament is traditionally defined as a sign that symbolizes the influx of the invisible Grace into the soul. In this sense Christ himself is the first and the greatest sacrament. For, He is the visible image of the invisible God who is the source of all divine graces. It is through Christ that God’s salvific love has been revealed to us. “It is through him that grace and divine life have been communicated to our souls. God loved the World so much that He sent His only Son to save us and to give us eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

THE CHURCH-THE SACRAMENT OF CHRIST

Jesus’ salvific work was not meant to be limited to any particular time or place. It was to continue until the end of time. To this end He founded the Church and instituted the seven sacraments. The sacraments are the visible expression of the invisible salvific work of Jesus that continues up to the end of time. Through the sacraments the Church enables us to experience here and now Christ’s salvific presence among men. In this sense the Church is the sacrament of Christ. And the seven sacraments are the sacramental acts of the Church, which is the sacrament of Christ, who, in turn, is the sacrament of God.

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS

There are seven sacraments in the Church. They are

1. Baptism

2. Confirmation

3. Eucharist

4. Holy Communion

5. Reconciliation

6. Anointing of the Sick

7. Holy Order

8. Matrimony

Nature; A sacrament may be described as an act of covenant between God and His people through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. It is a free gift from God; it is for us to accept it in faith and respond to it in love.

Sacraments are works and actions of our Lord in response to our faith. Jesus went round in Galilee doing good to all men, blessing, healing and giving life to them by words and actions. He does the same in His Church today by means of the sacraments.

The sacraments sanctify us to the glory of God. They lead us to an intimate union with Jesus and His Church. They go far towards building up the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ (S. C. art. 59). Baptism makes us members of the Church. Confirmation makes usadult and responsible Christians in the Church. The sacrament of reconciliation restores us to union with the Church. Marriage raises the natural union between man and woman to the plane of the supernatural and the sacred. Holy Order provides for the continuance s f the Church’s salvific mission through priestly ministry. The Anointing of the Sick makes us witnesses to the suffering Christ. It is the Eucharist which, more than any other sacrament, helps to build up the Church by drawing all believers together into an intimate communion with Christ. Thus the sacraments in their various ways serve to build up the Church which will in due time come to its full maturity.

Definition: The sacraments may be defined as efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Our Lord and performed in His name by the Church, through which Christ produces in us the grace signified in so far as we are prepared in faith to receive it.

Sacraments are signs. These signs take the form of words and gestures. Often these words and gestures are accompanied by the symbolic use of some material things.

Sacraments are efficacious signs, that is, they effectively produce what they signify. The sacraments are Christ’s gestures to us today; they are the outward signs of the inward grace they bring us.

The sacraments are instituted by Jesus Christ. This does not mean that Jesus Himself laid down every detail of the sacramental rites. The essentials of all the sacramental rites and the graces related to them were fixed by Christ directly or indirectly. In the case of Baptism and Eucharist Jesus Himself indicated the material sign and the formal rite, Later the Church, which is the continuation of Christ, clarified and determined the details of each sacramental rite.

The sacraments are performed by the church in the name of Christ. The Church as the continuation of Christ carries on His salvific work in the world. Administering the sacraments in the name of Jesus is supremely important in this mission. The Church carries out her mission through properly ordained ministers, who must perform the sacramental rites on behalf of the Church.

By means of the sacraments Jesus produces in us the grace signified. If worthily received each sacrament confers, first, the sanctifying grace or an increase of it, if it is already present in the soul; and secondly, a sacramental grace proper to each sacrament

SACRAMENTS-ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST

Sacraments are the salvific acts of Christ. Christ is present in every sacrament. Who ever be the visible minister, it is Christ who really baptizes, forgives sins, offers the sacrifice etc. Each sacrament is, therefore, a personal encounter with Christ. Through the sacraments Jesus offers Himself to man; He invites him to enter into an intimate and personal relationship with Him. Thus understood, the reception of sacraments is not a mere mechanical process of obtaining God’s grace. Rather it is a free and deliberate act on the part of the believer whereby he makes a positive response to Jesus’ call to enter into a personal relationship with Him.

EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENTS

Sacraments, in general, produce a two-fold effect.

First, every sacrament leads the believer to a closer union with Christ and the Church. In three of these cases, viz, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Order, the sacramental union imprints an indelible character on the soul which is meant to last for ever. This character endures even if the recipient commits sins of the gravest kind. And precisely because these three sacraments leave an indelible imprint on the soul, they can be received only once.

Secondly, the sacraments effect an intimate and personal union with Christ. This personal and intimate union with Christ is the ultimate source of all the graces we need, to face the challenging situations of life in the Church and the world.

Sacramental grace which is essentially sanctifying grace makes us the children of God, the Father, brothers of Jesus Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit and heirs of the Kingdom of ‘Heaven’.

SACRAMENTS AND CHRISTIAN LIFE

Sacraments are meant to help us lead a meaningful Christian life. But it is a mistake to think that sacraments will fulfil their purpose, as it were, mechanically. They can be sources of grace and sanctification only to the extent that we believe in their efficacy and power. Hence the sacraments we receive must be signs of our genuine faith.

Notes: (1). Sacraments are often divided into two kinds. a). the sacraments of the living, viz, Confirmation, Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Order and Matrimony. They are so called because they can be received only when the soul is alive with the sanctifying grace; b). the sacraments of the Dead, viz, Baptism and Reconciliation. They are so called because they may be received when the soul is spiritually dead, that is, when there is no life of sanctifying grace in the soul due to grave sin.

(2). Attachment to grave sin is an obstacle to the fruitful reception of the sacraments. Even in the case of the sacraments of the dead, if the recipient is determined not to forsake sin wholeheartedly, grace cannot be obtained. Reception of sacraments in the state of attachment to grave sin is a sacrilege.

(3). Three sacraments - Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist - are called the sacraments of ‘Christian Initiation’ in the sense that these three sacraments go towards the sacramental formation leading men step by step to the fullness of Christian life. This is quite meaningful in the context of the practice in the early Church. The catechumen received the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation during the night of Holy Saturday. Thus prepared, he took part in the Mass at dawn on Easter day, and received Holy communion a t the Eucharistic celebration. The first two sacraments led straight to the Eucharist, the greatest of all sacraments and the Centre of Christian life.