Introduction to the Sacraments

Motivation How do you show an invisible reality

(abstract concept) like love, respect and forgiveness to the person you love?

Group Activity:• Each group should think of 5 abstract concept or spiritual

realities and present it to the class thru actions, objects, or words.

• Allow other groups to identify or guess the abstract concept.

A. Meaning of Sacrament • The English word sacrament comes from the

Latin word sacramentum. • A sacrament is an outward efficacious sign

instituted by Christ to give grace. • Jesus Christ himself is the sacrament; his

humanity is the outward sign or the instrument of his Divinity. It is through his humanity that the life of the Trinity comes to us as grace through the sacraments.

B. Sacramental Principle• Sacramental principle is an assertion that God uses

visible realities to represent invisible realities.• It means that God uses material realities to make

present a spiritual reality.

C. Origin of Sacraments • Jesus in his humanity is the origin of sacraments since

he is sacrament of God’s saving love for all.• The Church is the sacrament of the risen Jesus.• The seven ritual sacraments are the sacraments of the

Church, that is, they visibly manifest and effectively enact the Church’s mystery and mission of making Christ present.

D. Jesus Christ as the Primordial Sacrament• Jesus is the Primordial Sacrament because

he is not just the originator of the seven sacraments but also their primary agent (Christ himself baptizes, confirms, etc.) their fullest expression or goal.

• Jesus is the Primordial Sacrament because he is the Source, primary agent and the Goal of all sacramental activity.

Jesus Christ, the Primordial SacramentAs Source, Jesus is the one in whom all the sacraments

are rooted and from whom they derived their efficacy.

As Primary Agent, Christ is the one who, through the actions and words of the minister celebrating the various sacraments, baptizes, confirms, forgives and reconciles, heals, offers himself in sacrifice, binds in faithful love and consecrates for service.

As a Goal of all sacraments, Jesus Christ is the perfection toward which our life on earth tends.

E. The Church as the Fundamental Sacrament

The Church is the Fundamental Sacrament because it makes the risen Christ present by being his body and by celebrating his saving acts in the seven ritual sacraments.

F. The Seven Ritual Sacraments

The seven ritual sacraments are saving symbolic acts or visible signs , arising from the ministry of Christ, and continued in, by and for the Church, which, when received in faith, fashion us into likeness to Christ in his Paschal Mystery, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The seven ritual sacraments are: • Baptism, • Confirmation, • Holy Eucharist, • Penance, • Anointing of the Sick, • Holy Orders, • Matrimony.

G. Nature of the Ritual Sacraments • Each sacrament consists of a visible external rite,

which is composed of matter and form, the matter being the action, such as the pouring of water, and the form being the words spoken by the minister.

• Each sacramental rite confers a special ecclesial effect and sacramental grace appropriate for each sacrament.

• The sacraments occur at pivotal events and give meaning to a person's life.

• The sacraments act ex opere operato, by the very fact of the action being performed, independent of the minister.

• The effect on the person receiving the sacrament is called ex opere operantis, and depends on the interior disposition of the receiver.

Sacraments effects in us a gradual transformation into Christ’s way, only if celebrated in Faith.

The Sacraments of Initiation

a. Baptismb. Confirmationc. Eucharist

The Sacrament of Baptism

a. Baptism – is the sacrament of faith which brings us new life in Christ and forgiveness of sins through water and spirit; incorporating us into the Church; and into sharing in the Trinitarian divine life as adopted children of the father, in a progressive way that looks ever to the future.

The Sacrament of Confirmation

b. Confirmation – is the sacrament in which, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a baptized person is drawn into closer union with the Church and endowed with strength to actively spread the Gospel.

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

c. Eucharist – is the centerpiece of the seven ritual sacraments and “the source and summit of the whole Christian life”.

The Sacraments of Healing

a. Reconciliationb. Anointing the Sick

The Sacrament of Reconciliation or

Penance

a. Reconciliation/Penance – is the sacrament through which we: obtain pardon from God for sins committed after baptism and for which we are truly repentant, and are reconciled with the Christian community, the Church.

The Sacrament of Anointing the Sick

b. Anointing the Sick – is the sacrament which, through the laying on of hands, the prayer of faith, and the anointing with blessed oil, provides the sick with Christ’s healing grace of the Holy Spirit.

The Sacraments of Vocation

a. Holy Ordersb. Matrimony

The Sacraments of Vocation

a. Matrimony – is the sacrament in which the love of man and woman is made holy and becomes the mirror of God’s everlasting love.

The Sacraments of Vocation

b. Holy Orders – is the sacrament of apostolic ministry through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church till the end of time.

Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, are given once, as they render a permanent seal or character upon one's soul (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians 4:30, Revelations 7:3).

Relevance of Sacraments to a Christian’s Life

• All the ritual sacraments give special grace.

• They draw us into a closer relationship to the Church and to God.

• They gradually transform us into Christ’s way of thinking, acting, praying, loving, forgiving and serving.

• Sacraments sanctify us, build up the Body of Christ, and give worship to God.