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Eight Things To Love About the Catholic Church Part 5: The Great Gift of the Sacraments

Cynthia Trainque
May 5, 2015 No Comments

Seven sacraments—seven great gifts of love from God to his Holy Church.Ā  Anyone aged 50 and over can easily recall from their Baltimore Catechism: ā€œA sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart graceā€.

Within the Christian family of believers only Roman Catholics and the various Eastern Orthodox churches have seven sacraments. Most Protestant communities have two — baptism and communion; a few observe only baptism or only communion. While the Latin word for sacrament (Sacramentum) is not in Scripture, its Greek translation is: ā€œMysterionā€ (mysteries). They have been entrusted by God to the Church by way of the holy apostles and their successors, the bishops as Paul states in 2 Cor. 4:1 — ā€œLet a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of Godā€.Ā  From there, bishops can appoint presbyters (priests) to administer most but not all of the sacraments.

The churchĀ  groups the seven sacraments into three groups: the Sacraments of Initiation, the Sacraments of Healing and the Sacraments for Ministry.Ā  But first, let’s look at the definition of sacraments.

An ā€œoutward signā€ā€” physical rites within the Church.Ā  Most are imparted by way of the sacred Liturgy. The Sign of the Cross, anointings, blessings and other actions performed by a priest with particular words/prayers.

ā€œInstituted by Christā€ — we make the invisible visible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

ā€œTo impart graceā€ — because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in each of the sacraments they do give life-giving grace to those who partake of them.

Here we should carefully note that all sacraments are considered as ā€œEx Opere Operatoā€ which means that they are efficacious (effective) simply by manner of their being performed and not because of any level of holiness/righteousness by either the priest or by the recipient.Ā  A priest who may be only luke-warm hearted in his ministry still administers the sacraments validly because it is God himself who effects the sacraments by means of the priest and does not originate from the priest himself.

The Sacraments of Initiation

Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. In Baptism water is poured three times over the head of the candidate. He/she is then anointed with sacred oil and is rendered a member of the ā€œpriesthood of all believersā€ and is thus able to assist in offering the sacred Liturgy with the episcopos/bishop and/or presbyter/priest. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and many Protestant denominations baptize according to Jesus’ mandate: ā€œIn the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spiritā€ (Mt. 28:19). Some baptize in Jesus’ name only, even while using this same citation of Matthew as well as Acts 19:5.

Baptism leaves an indelible mark upon a person’s soul and can never be undone or repeated. It also forgives sins, according to Acts 2:38, but many Protestant communities reject this even though it is clearly biblical. It also ā€œnow saves youā€ according to the chief apostle himself in 1 Pet. 3:21. In the Catholic Church, in all Eastern Orthodox churches and in most mainline Protestant communities (Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, some Presbyterians and Congregationalists) infant baptism is insisted upon unless an adult elects to become a member of that community. Even at that, the various churches accept each other’s baptism if it was according to the Trinitarian formula.

The idea of being baptized as adults (Believers’ Baptism) only came about in the 16th century with the Anabaptists — a term meaning to re-baptize. Amish, Mennonites, the Assembly of God and many others reject infant baptism and thus require adult baptism for all of its members. For their children they use a ceremony called ā€œbaby dedicationā€ in imitation of Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus to the temple to dedicate him. Yet, that act was only for first-born sons who opened the womb…not for females or even second, third, fourth-born, etc. sons because the father had to declare ā€œThis is my first-born son of this wifeā€ (see Ex. 13:13-16 and Num 3:45-47).

In the Old Testament it was God himself who decreed that all male children be circumcised at the age of eight days old even though clearly they are incapable of choosing it for themselves; it was important, though, for circumcision made one a member of the sacred covenant with God (Note:Ā  circumcision does not make a person Jewish…they are born Jewish or convert into the faith).Ā  It was unheard of in the days of Jesus and the early Church (and for 1500+ years) for a person to choose his/her own faith because women and children were seen as mere possessions and incapable of deciding when they wanted to be baptized.Ā  It is the primary reason entire households were baptized together.Ā  Even though Jesus himself was baptized as an adult, he was not baptized into anything.Ā  Nor did heĀ needĀ baptism — his holy presence in the water blessed the action of baptism and fulfilled the baptism of John by bringing it to a new level.

Confirmation

This sacrament completes baptism and it is the occasion when the baptized are able to definitively choose the Church for themselves. Like Baptism it also leaves an indelible mark on one’s soul that cannot be undone. The seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit are given at Confirmation: fear of the Lord, piety, knowledge, understanding, counsel, wisdom and fortitude.Ā  The Bishop confirms each candidate individually with the same nine words ā€œBe sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spiritā€. Why is a Bishop the one who confirms?Ā  In the early Church the Bishop administered all the sacraments as well as offered the weekly Mass.Ā  However, the Church grew very quickly both in size and geographically making it impossible for him to cover everything.

The saying of Mass and administering baptism was given over to the priests who served within the priesthood of each individual Bishop but because Confirmation is the sacrament that completes the initiation of a candidate into the Church it is still reserved to the Bishop.Ā  Local pastors may Confirm at the Easter Vigil (again, for sheer numbers) but pastors who receive people into the church outside of the vigil must have the Bishop’s expressed permission. For more on Confirmation go here:http://catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0451.html

The Holy EucharistĀ Ā 

Food of all foods, Bread of all breads.Ā  I have covered this Holy Sacrament in myĀ second essay of this seriesĀ here.

The Sacraments of Healing

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and the Anointing of the Sick.Ā  About Confession the question is often asked, ā€œWhy confess your sins to a priest…why not just go to God?ā€ One reason is for humility and not an act of presumption that God has forgiven the sin(s). Many Protestants who go direct to God oftentimes admit to being unsure as to whether God has truly forgiven their sins…or even heard their request for forgiveness.Ā  While Jesus did say to the apostles that ā€œWhose sins you forgive are forgiven themā€ (Jn 20:23) many Protestants seem to be unaware that Jesus also said ā€œwhose sins you retain are retained.ā€

In order for them to be forgiven or retained they must be heard. Thus three things are necessary before the priest can give absolution:Ā  true repentance of sin(s), a firm intention to ā€œavoid the near occasion of sinā€ (Act of Contrition) and a form of penance.Ā Ā  The other thing about confessing through a priest is that St. Paul makes clear in 1 Cor. 12:25-26 that ā€œif one part of the body hurts, every other part hurts and is involved in the healing.ā€ Ā This is also true spiritually. Therefore sin not only affects our relationship with God but with others as well.

When Jesus appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about forgiving and retaining sin he first breathed on them and said, ā€œReceive the Holy Spirit.ā€ Outside of placing the breath of life into mankind (Gen. 2:7), it is the only time that Jesus breathed on the apostles.

And isn’t there really only one kind of sin rather than the idea of mortal sin?Ā  Why differentiate?Ā  We do so because the apostle John said so: ā€œIf anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadlyā€ (1 Jn 5:16-17). Stealing twenty dollars from someone’s purse cannot be elevated to the level of murder…nor can murder be equated to the level of stealing twenty dollars.

The Sacrament of the Sick

ā€œIs anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord,and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgivenā€ (James 5:13-15). How good it is that this great sacrament exists.Ā  Formerly called Extreme Unction because it was the last of four sacraments that use the oil of anointing (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders are the other three), it is now administered to those who are seriously ill or facing surgery and no longer reserved for a person who is very close to death. Therefore it is possible for a person to receive this anointing more than once in life. Incorporated in this sacrament is the sacrament of reconciliation — therefore it is one of sacraments reserved to the priest. The others are Confirmation (unless it is the Easter Vigil or the priest has special permission from the Bishop), the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and Holy Orders.

This article is part of a series.

Part 1: The Role of the Bishop in the Church

Part 2: Things To Love About the Mass

Part 3:Ā Why We Love Mary

Part 4: Why We Love the Saints

Part 5:Ā The Great Gift of the Sacraments

Part 6: Our Life in the Sacraments

Part 7: The Bible is Catholic

Part 8: Women Have a Role in the Church


Cynthia Trainque

Cynthia TrainqueĀ is an author who is enrolled in the Master of Arts in Ministry (MAM) for the Laity at St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, MA. She has served the church for several years as a worker, writer, and volunteer and is presently an active member of St. Mary’s Parish in Ayer, MA. She has a great love of sacred art and objects and enjoysĀ  photographing them. Cynthia is available to come to speak as a guest speaker/teacher on the beauty of the Catholic Faith.Ā  She gives talks and also creates/uses PowerPoint presentations. She is copyeditor for Shine Catholic (ShineCatholic.com). Ā She has previously been published byĀ www.catholiclane.comĀ andĀ www.catholicexchange.com. She may be contacted atĀ Catherineofsienamedia@yahoo.com. This article was originally published atĀ Catholic Exchange.


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