The sacraments were created by Jesus for the purpose of offering God’s grace to us. The sacraments allow for us to live in imitation of Christ, foremost in sacrifice, and bring us into union with Him. The sacraments are Trinitarian, in part, because when we are, “united to Christ by the (Holy) Spirit we have access to the Father.” (P. 28), and only, “union with Christ is the way of return to God.” (P. 12).
As a fallen people we are unable to enter into union with God on our own. That union is only possible through His grace. The offer of grace is an act of God’s infinite love for us and His desire that we will enter into communion with one another, and unity with Him. Implicit in the offer of God’s grace is that we must be willing to receive it, sincere and free of distraction. Technically this can be called traction, the action that directs us towards what we want, salvation, and union with Jesus. We know we lack something, and on some level that emptiness is recognized as the solitude in being separated from God. Only God can bring us into union with Him, and our actions must deem us “worthy” of His offer of grace. It should be understood that, “union with God must be given by God; but at the same time it must be achieved by free and meritorious action on man’s part.” (P. 187). God sent His Son to us for our salvation, “God draws…(people) into union with Himself; and God makes them worthy of this union by associating them with Christ’s merits and atonements, that is, with Christ’s worthiness.” (P. 189). It is through the sacraments that association with Christ is manifested.
Our Church was founded on the sacraments and Christ is present in them. Colman O’Neill references this reality in “Meeting Christ in the Sacraments” when he states, it is this presence of the God of the (New) Alliance (Jesus) in tangible form that makes the body of Christ the sacraments on which the Church is founded.” (P. 80). Just as Christ died to save all mankind, He intends that His sacraments be communal. The sacraments are, “a bodily manifestation of the corporate spiritual union with Christ.” (P. 31). In obedience and worship of Christ, and in receiving the gifts of the sacraments, “all Christians form together a royal priesthood because they are members of Christ.” (P. 19). The unity aspect of the sacraments, both with one another and Jesus, is undeniable, and unavoidable. O’Neill explains this reality as a “vertical” contact with God, and “horizontal” contact among His children (P. 32). “
We encounter Jesus in the sacraments, and all sacraments include some element of His sacrifice and suffering that we, in turn, imitate. It is in this imitation that we share in Christ’s suffering and sacrifice, and in doing so are brought closer to Him. The element of sacrifice in the sacraments is often not apparent to many Catholics, even as the sacrament, and sacrifice brings us closer to union with Christ. We understand the role of grace in the sacraments, and how they bring us closer to Jesus, but not how sacrifice also brings us closer to Him. Understandably, the focus is often on some celebratory aspect of the sacrament, be it the joy of a child’s Baptism, union of man in woman in Holy Matrimony, or being sealed with the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. The sacrament that most joins us to Christ, and is the most important of all sacraments is Communion and receiving the Eucharist.
All Catholics should understand the concept of transubstantiation whereby the bread and wine, by the power of the Holy Spirit, truly become the body and blood of Christ, all while visibly appearing unchanged. Receiving Christ in the Eucharist the, “sacrament has a spiritual effect, personal, affective union with Christ…that is , living faith, guided by the Holy Spirit – picks out unerringly this central truth about the Eucharist.” (P. 164 – 165). We become closer to Jesus and receive the spiritual nourishment He provides. St. Thomas explains this as, “the effect symbolized and produced by this sacrament is union with the mystical body, which is essential for salvation.” (P. 174). As followers of Christ, we understand that, “the meaning behind the Eucharist is that it unites us to the person of Christ.” (p. 162). Exactly how the Eucharist is efficacious in bringing us into closer union with Jesus is deserving of some elaboration. It is true that from the Eucharist, “all graces are given.” (P. 165), and the Eucharist is, “the visible instrument united to God through which we receive His grace” (P. 165), but what we do with that grace is of enormous importance. All of our charisms are gifts from God and their proper use is to use them in service to Christ by being of service to others in need. The grace received in the Eucharist, “the bodily contact which is necessary for the Christian to enter into union with Christ.” (P. 166), also imparts us with the grace to go forth and imitate Christ in our lives and the world. Christ shares Himself, sacrificially, with us through the Eucharist, and sharing in His sacrifice enables us to do His works, to “wash the feet” of others.
As O’Neill also notes, “the one acceptable sign of union with God is the broken body of Calvary” (P. 165), the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That union was expressed and made real when Christ said, “Take and eat. This is my body.” “Christ instituted the Eucharist in order to draw men into fellowship with His own unique mystery.” (P. 190), and in the Eucharist we are transformed. We encounter Jesus physically and spiritually in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to work through us. More than going forth to do good deeds, we do the work Jesus commands, we let Jesus work through us. When we share in the Eucharist and sacrifice of Christ, we share in a “symbol of Christian unity in charity: many members form one body with one another and with Christ in the charity given by the sacrament.” (P. 167). In a very real way, we are joined to Christ, as individuals, and a community through the Eucharist, and the preparation it provides for us to merit God’s grace and ultimate union with God.
Blog #4
I understand why you think the world is full of grace as are the sacraments, and there is some truth in those sentiments, at least as I understand. If you will indulge me, I’d like to offer a few insights that have helped me gain what I consider to be a deeper, more specific understanding of what we mean by grace, and its role in our world and the sacraments. So, what do we mean by grace? The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as, “favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.” (CCC 1987).
God created the cosmos for us, and all that it contains, including humanity. By seeing all that God created, we can certainly understand that this was an act of His grace, and display of His grandeur, but let’s not confuse this with how you are using the term grace to describe our normative state. God created the world, but due to our fall, grace, while abundantly available to us, remains unaccepted by many.
We are biological beings and part of the natural world in that regard, but we are much more, “man is that creature whose norm is nature, but who goes beyond nature.” (p. 14). That we are both of the natural world and divine should sound familiar, Hint: The Incarnation. We have been gifted our rational souls by God and we are made in God’s image. We live in the world He created, but we are not in communion with Him. If we were, we would be full of grace.
Just as we see evidence of God in the world, and cosmos, we also, on some level, recognize that its different, and lesser than being with God. More succinctly, we see God’s works, but we are unable to unite with God. The emptiness we feel and try to fill with our own pursuits will always fall short because they are misguided, attempts at self divinizing (several references throughout “Nature and Grace”), and fruitless efforts to fill a void that is beyond our ability. We need God’s help. Henri de Lubac, a theologian referred to this as, “between our human nature and our destiny there lies an ‘infinite disproportion. One cannot move from man to God by walking forward on the same level…the abyss can be bridged only ‘by the divine invention of charity.’” (p. 32). What is another name for God’s charity? Grace. How do we cross that abyss? By allowing God to transform us. Through this transformation, we experience, “the divine transcendence, the gratuity of the gift God makes of Himself, the ‘grace’, and also the deep realism of the quality of ‘children of God’ which is won for man in principle by the Incarnation of the Word.” (p. 50). Yes, Jesus is the ultimate grace of God for each one us, individually, and for all humanity.
This grace is the call of God, a call to lift us, to transform us, to recreate us. De Lubac offers several insights that are helpful to our understanding. de Lubac noted that, “grace…is a quality infused into the soul” (p. 46); it is, “’hidden in and penetrating the substance of the soul and rendering it, as a soul, capable of living God’s own life, his divine life.” (p. 46). It is a call to, “set your hopes on the grace on the grace conferred on you when Jesus Christ appears.” (p. 10). Jesus is our second chance at redemption and salvation, He is God’s grace. It is then up to each of us to decide if we will accept this grace.
Let’s now talk a little about the role of sacraments and grace. Jesus’s Incarnation, death and Resurrection leads us directly to the grace that is available through the sacraments. Each sacrament is an act of God’s love for us, and an act of our seeking unity with Him. You can argue that they are filled with grace because they deliver God’s grace, and in the sacraments, we freely accept His grace. The sacraments indispensably, but not exclusively, lead us to God. The sacraments are part of our redemption and revealed to us through Jesus. Redemption is necessary because we are stained by original sin, and the sins of our own making. As Charles Pegut, a French poet, said, “sin is not only a relative imperfection, but a rupture; not just a mistake, but a breaking away from God.” (p. 131). The sacraments, especially Baptism, Reconciliation, and Communion are offered through Christ, and consecrated by the Holy Spirit, as part of our reuniting with God.
But for a sacrament to help us towards salvation, we must first recognize the sinner that is us. Again, I’ll rely on de Lubac who said, “full realization of what sin is does not exist in the sinful Christian…but only in the repentant Christian” (p. 131). I’ve struggled with this understanding. It wasn’t until I went to Confession as part of my Confirmation at the age 54 that I felt the power of redemption through God’s mercy. It was then that I started to understand that I am, and we all are, sinners in need of God’s grace. John Henry Newman once said, “without the sense of sin…there is no genuine religion.” (p. 150). Well, the sacraments are ways we live our faith, they are efficacious, and filled with God’s love and grace. They are where we join with Christ. In Romans, we read, “all alike have sinned; all alike are unworthy of God’s praise. But God proved how well He loved us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (134). Again, here is an example of Christ’s sacrificial love, and His grace to free us from sin. The sacraments are of His making, and examples of God’s grace. The sacraments are gifts of God’s love, and mercy, and His desire to be with us. They are ways we experience His grace.
The sacraments are also about joy, the joy of participating in the life of Christ. There is God’s grace in the sacraments, and for members of the, “Christian faith opens a ‘way out’, leading to a divine transcendence and a personalized union with God in Christ.” (p. 163). This is all part of the Good News that God hasn’t abandoned us, and through His grace is helping us find our way back to Him. I hope that this provides a better understanding of grace and helps you on your journey to salvation through God’s grace.
God created the cosmos for us, and all that it contains, including humanity. By seeing all that God created, we can certainly understand that this was an act of His grace, and display of His grandeur, but let’s not confuse this with how you are using the term grace to describe our normative state. God created the world, but due to our fall, grace, while abundantly available to us, remains unaccepted by many.
We are biological beings and part of the natural world in that regard, but we are much more, “man is that creature whose norm is nature, but who goes beyond nature.” (p. 14). That we are both of the natural world and divine should sound familiar, Hint: The Incarnation. We have been gifted our rational souls by God and we are made in God’s image. We live in the world He created, but we are not in communion with Him. If we were, we would be full of grace.
Just as we see evidence of God in the world, and cosmos, we also, on some level, recognize that its different, and lesser than being with God. More succinctly, we see God’s works, but we are unable to unite with God. The emptiness we feel and try to fill with our own pursuits will always fall short because they are misguided, attempts at self divinizing (several references throughout “Nature and Grace”), and fruitless efforts to fill a void that is beyond our ability. We need God’s help. Henri de Lubac, a theologian referred to this as, “between our human nature and our destiny there lies an ‘infinite disproportion. One cannot move from man to God by walking forward on the same level…the abyss can be bridged only ‘by the divine invention of charity.’” (p. 32). What is another name for God’s charity? Grace. How do we cross that abyss? By allowing God to transform us. Through this transformation, we experience, “the divine transcendence, the gratuity of the gift God makes of Himself, the ‘grace’, and also the deep realism of the quality of ‘children of God’ which is won for man in principle by the Incarnation of the Word.” (p. 50). Yes, Jesus is the ultimate grace of God for each one us, individually, and for all humanity.
This grace is the call of God, a call to lift us, to transform us, to recreate us. De Lubac offers several insights that are helpful to our understanding. de Lubac noted that, “grace…is a quality infused into the soul” (p. 46); it is, “’hidden in and penetrating the substance of the soul and rendering it, as a soul, capable of living God’s own life, his divine life.” (p. 46). It is a call to, “set your hopes on the grace on the grace conferred on you when Jesus Christ appears.” (p. 10). Jesus is our second chance at redemption and salvation, He is God’s grace. It is then up to each of us to decide if we will accept this grace.
Let’s now talk a little about the role of sacraments and grace. Jesus’s Incarnation, death and Resurrection leads us directly to the grace that is available through the sacraments. Each sacrament is an act of God’s love for us, and an act of our seeking unity with Him. You can argue that they are filled with grace because they deliver God’s grace, and in the sacraments, we freely accept His grace. The sacraments indispensably, but not exclusively, lead us to God. The sacraments are part of our redemption and revealed to us through Jesus. Redemption is necessary because we are stained by original sin, and the sins of our own making. As Charles Pegut, a French poet, said, “sin is not only a relative imperfection, but a rupture; not just a mistake, but a breaking away from God.” (p. 131). The sacraments, especially Baptism, Reconciliation, and Communion are offered through Christ, and consecrated by the Holy Spirit, as part of our reuniting with God.
But for a sacrament to help us towards salvation, we must first recognize the sinner that is us. Again, I’ll rely on de Lubac who said, “full realization of what sin is does not exist in the sinful Christian…but only in the repentant Christian” (p. 131). I’ve struggled with this understanding. It wasn’t until I went to Confession as part of my Confirmation at the age 54 that I felt the power of redemption through God’s mercy. It was then that I started to understand that I am, and we all are, sinners in need of God’s grace. John Henry Newman once said, “without the sense of sin…there is no genuine religion.” (p. 150). Well, the sacraments are ways we live our faith, they are efficacious, and filled with God’s love and grace. They are where we join with Christ. In Romans, we read, “all alike have sinned; all alike are unworthy of God’s praise. But God proved how well He loved us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (134). Again, here is an example of Christ’s sacrificial love, and His grace to free us from sin. The sacraments are of His making, and examples of God’s grace. The sacraments are gifts of God’s love, and mercy, and His desire to be with us. They are ways we experience His grace.
The sacraments are also about joy, the joy of participating in the life of Christ. There is God’s grace in the sacraments, and for members of the, “Christian faith opens a ‘way out’, leading to a divine transcendence and a personalized union with God in Christ.” (p. 163). This is all part of the Good News that God hasn’t abandoned us, and through His grace is helping us find our way back to Him. I hope that this provides a better understanding of grace and helps you on your journey to salvation through God’s grace.
Blog #3
Welcome friends, to the Catholic Church. What a wonderful and exciting time in your lives. As I look at you all now, I’m reminded of the Easter Vigil in 2018 when my wife, Julie, was initiated into the Catholic faith after converting from Judaism. Whether you realize it or not, much of what you experienced in the sacraments were prefigured in the Old Testament, and have a foundation in Old Testament and New Testament alike. How could it be any other way? Theologian refer to this as Typology, meaning grouping things based upon their likeness. Jesus was a Jew, as were the apostles and the earliest Christians. They had a very good understanding of the Jewish tradition, its rites, symbols, history, and practices. What some Catholics mistake for sacraments originating with Christ, Jesus and His followers recognized as rooted in their own biblical accounts.
When we think of the sacraments, therefore, let’s consider them as occurring in the past, present, and future. They were prefigured in the past in the Old and New Testaments, received in the present, and hold the hope and promise for us, eschatologically, for salvation in the future. While we experience each sacrament only once, with the obvious exception of receiving the Eucharist, the sacraments bind us to God for eternity.
Let’s start with Baptism. Baptism, as you all learned, is the cleansing of original sin, and receiving the Holy Spirit. We can all recall that Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, by John the Baptist. Wouldn’t it seem an odd practice unless it had some familiarity and significance to Jesus? Wouldn’t it lack meaning unless it revealed something profound and transformative? Ask yourselves, did you just have Holy water poured on you, a few words spoken, and anointed with oil? Of course not, all of those things did occur, but they have the power to transform because the Holy Spirit consecrated them. They are also symbols familiar to Jesus and the early Christians who were themselves Jewish.
Early Christians were immersed in water at Baptism. This represented the destruction of sin. In the Old Testament water is used, at least twice, to destroy sin and evil. Once during the great Flood, “the destruction of the sinful world of which the Flood was the figure,” and again during the Exodus from Egypt when the Jewish people cross the Red Sea. The Pharoah and his army representing the evil that held God’s people and was destroyed in the Red Sea. In both accounts a transformation occurred. Water destroyed sin and evil, and then the people who remained were transformed and recreated by the life giving water. We see this in Baptism, the water destroys sin (immersion), and upon emersion, we are reborn in Christ. But, there is still more; to reach their earthly promised land, the Jewish people had to cross a river. For Christians, Baptism is a required voyage through water to our hope to enter heaven.
Confirmation too has Old and New Testament origins. In the Old Testament the anointing with oil carries special meaning, “the sacramental anointing is connected with the priestly anointing. ” In Exodus, Aaron is anointed with oil as he becomes priest to the Jewish people. These examples show the prefiguring of Jesus, “the Son…anointed with the Holy Spirit.” So when you were anointed with oil, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. I know, you’re going to tell me that you already received the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and you are correct. Confirmation, though, is the perfection of the Holy Spirit in you, “and this perfection consists of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,” including receipt of the seven virtues: Faith, Justice, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, Fortitude, and Charity.
Even the Eucharist is prefigured in the Old Testament. Manna was the food given by God to sustain the Jewish people following the Exodus. St. John noted in his Gospel that, “manna was a figure of the
Eucharist.” “Judaism had already given to manna an eschatological significance,” it was the life giving nourishment provided by God. The Eucharist is our spiritual nourishment from God. Another example of prefiguring is that the Jewish people suffered in their journey, even while receiving manna, just as we share in Christ’s suffering and sacrifice when we receive the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, like Baptism and Confirmation is transformative. The Holy Spirit is present to consecrate the host. Where God is, so too are angels to honor God and be witness to our spiritual transformation. Jean Danilou beautifully explains this when he says, “the angels are watching you…they have seen your appearance which previously was wretched, suddenly become shining.”
The Eucharist is at the center of the liturgy. It is perhaps the best reminder that we are to live a life in service to God. The early Christians didn’t differentiate the sacraments from everyday life. To the early Christians, the “sacraments were essential events of Christian existence.” They lived the sacraments. We have forgotten this fundamental tenet of our faith. As you receive the Eucharist, I hope you remember that communion, like all the sacraments are to be lived out over a lifetime, not merely an event, or rite of passage.
The sacraments of initiation themselves prefigure our own eschatological future. In Baptism, we died like Christ and are like Him, we are resurrected and on the path to return to the Father. In Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is perfected within us and we are given the gits to live a life that is itself prefigured for salvation. In Communion, the Eucharist, “is a figure of the messianic banquet to which Christ will invite His own in the Kingdom of the Father.” Its important to note that the order of sacraments isn’t arbitrary. Like all else in the cosmos, God provides order. Our fall from grace is an example of us being disordered. The sacraments of initiation have an order. First sin and evil must die in our old selves (Baptism); then we receive and are renewed, spiritually, by the bread of life (Eucharist), and then we live a life using the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Confirmation) all oriented and cooperating in our eschatological hope for salvation and unity with God.
When we think of the sacraments, therefore, let’s consider them as occurring in the past, present, and future. They were prefigured in the past in the Old and New Testaments, received in the present, and hold the hope and promise for us, eschatologically, for salvation in the future. While we experience each sacrament only once, with the obvious exception of receiving the Eucharist, the sacraments bind us to God for eternity.
Let’s start with Baptism. Baptism, as you all learned, is the cleansing of original sin, and receiving the Holy Spirit. We can all recall that Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, by John the Baptist. Wouldn’t it seem an odd practice unless it had some familiarity and significance to Jesus? Wouldn’t it lack meaning unless it revealed something profound and transformative? Ask yourselves, did you just have Holy water poured on you, a few words spoken, and anointed with oil? Of course not, all of those things did occur, but they have the power to transform because the Holy Spirit consecrated them. They are also symbols familiar to Jesus and the early Christians who were themselves Jewish.
Early Christians were immersed in water at Baptism. This represented the destruction of sin. In the Old Testament water is used, at least twice, to destroy sin and evil. Once during the great Flood, “the destruction of the sinful world of which the Flood was the figure,” and again during the Exodus from Egypt when the Jewish people cross the Red Sea. The Pharoah and his army representing the evil that held God’s people and was destroyed in the Red Sea. In both accounts a transformation occurred. Water destroyed sin and evil, and then the people who remained were transformed and recreated by the life giving water. We see this in Baptism, the water destroys sin (immersion), and upon emersion, we are reborn in Christ. But, there is still more; to reach their earthly promised land, the Jewish people had to cross a river. For Christians, Baptism is a required voyage through water to our hope to enter heaven.
Confirmation too has Old and New Testament origins. In the Old Testament the anointing with oil carries special meaning, “the sacramental anointing is connected with the priestly anointing. ” In Exodus, Aaron is anointed with oil as he becomes priest to the Jewish people. These examples show the prefiguring of Jesus, “the Son…anointed with the Holy Spirit.” So when you were anointed with oil, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. I know, you’re going to tell me that you already received the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and you are correct. Confirmation, though, is the perfection of the Holy Spirit in you, “and this perfection consists of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,” including receipt of the seven virtues: Faith, Justice, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, Fortitude, and Charity.
Even the Eucharist is prefigured in the Old Testament. Manna was the food given by God to sustain the Jewish people following the Exodus. St. John noted in his Gospel that, “manna was a figure of the
Eucharist.” “Judaism had already given to manna an eschatological significance,” it was the life giving nourishment provided by God. The Eucharist is our spiritual nourishment from God. Another example of prefiguring is that the Jewish people suffered in their journey, even while receiving manna, just as we share in Christ’s suffering and sacrifice when we receive the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, like Baptism and Confirmation is transformative. The Holy Spirit is present to consecrate the host. Where God is, so too are angels to honor God and be witness to our spiritual transformation. Jean Danilou beautifully explains this when he says, “the angels are watching you…they have seen your appearance which previously was wretched, suddenly become shining.”
The Eucharist is at the center of the liturgy. It is perhaps the best reminder that we are to live a life in service to God. The early Christians didn’t differentiate the sacraments from everyday life. To the early Christians, the “sacraments were essential events of Christian existence.” They lived the sacraments. We have forgotten this fundamental tenet of our faith. As you receive the Eucharist, I hope you remember that communion, like all the sacraments are to be lived out over a lifetime, not merely an event, or rite of passage.
The sacraments of initiation themselves prefigure our own eschatological future. In Baptism, we died like Christ and are like Him, we are resurrected and on the path to return to the Father. In Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is perfected within us and we are given the gits to live a life that is itself prefigured for salvation. In Communion, the Eucharist, “is a figure of the messianic banquet to which Christ will invite His own in the Kingdom of the Father.” Its important to note that the order of sacraments isn’t arbitrary. Like all else in the cosmos, God provides order. Our fall from grace is an example of us being disordered. The sacraments of initiation have an order. First sin and evil must die in our old selves (Baptism); then we receive and are renewed, spiritually, by the bread of life (Eucharist), and then we live a life using the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Confirmation) all oriented and cooperating in our eschatological hope for salvation and unity with God.