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.