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.