What Are You Looking For? Part 2: The Liturgy and the Sacraments

The Celebration of the Christian Mystery

The Celebration of the Christian Mystery

                We have now come to the end of the second section of the Catechism.  So far we have taken a look at what we believe and why and also how that belief is practiced within the Catholic Church.  Just as the statements of the Nicene Creed are all the things you must believe in order to be a Catholic Christian, so the sacraments are things you must do. 

                For a Catholic, first and foremost, you must have been baptized, either as a Catholic or been validly baptized in another Christian tradition.  You can’t be a Christian without being baptized, as is stated in the Nicene Creed, “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”  Baptism washes away Original Sin, as well as any sins we might have committed prior to baptism.  It doesn’t matter if you were baptized Catholic when you were born, or were baptized in another Christian tradition.  Every sin you ever committed prior to baptism is gone.  Whether you realized it at the time or not, that is still true.

                In Confirmation, we are all sealed with the Holy Spirit.  We are empowered by him to go out into our world and live the Gospel.  We also received gifts from him when we were confirmed.  We may not have ever unwrapped those gifts, and we may not have ever looked at them to see what they are, but they are there nonetheless.  It is our responsibility to learn what gifts we have and how to use them both within the Church and also out in the world.

                We discovered the Eucharist is not just some symbolic thing we do once in a while to remember Jesus’ death, but that Jesus Christ is actually, truly and really present in the consecrated bread and wine.  Once consecrated, the bread and wine remain the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ always.  They never revert back to their original unconsecrated form.  We learned that hidden within the form of bread and wine is the fullness of Jesus Christ, of his Most Sacred Heart, is all the grace we will ever need to become great saints.  Because this is so, we must never receive unworthily, that is, in a state of mortal sin.

                We have learned that should we fall into mortal sin there is a fountain of grace and mercy waiting for us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We have come to see that confessing all serious sin out loud and to a priest isn’t humiliating, but humbling.  Everyone sins, therefore everyone needs absolution.  Having someone sitting “in the person of Christ the Head” speaking the words of absolution to us frees us from our sin and guilt.  Doing our penance restores us back to the heart of the One we love most, Jesus Christ, and to his Church, and to each other.  Reconciliation, Confession, isn’t a hardship.  It’s a miracle of grace.

                When we are gravely sick or in danger of dying, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is available to us.  Through this beautiful sacrament we are reminded to join our suffering with those of Christ.  We are reminded that even if we should die, death isn’t the end.  We are reminded that God will raise us up in the manner that he sees as best for us.

                Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders we are given bishops, priests and deacons.  The deacons assist the priests and bishops in the everyday work of the ministry.  The priests and bishops serve as faithful shepherds to all of us.  They are there for both the joys and sorrows of life.  They are called to make us uncomfortable with where we are and to challenge us to always seek to know our faith more, to grow more, and to become great saints.  Their job is to mess with our lives, in the very best way, so we become more like Christ. We need more of them.

                We looked at a sacramental marriage and discovered that marriage isn’t just something you do because it’s that time of your life or because your girlfriend is pregnant, or because you find yourself pregnant.  It is something that must be entered into freely.  It must be faithful: there are no others, ever.  It must be fruitful and open to the creation of life.  And it must be total.  The two become one flesh and one heart until the day they are parted by death.  Each giving to the other completely.  Marriage is the only sacrament two lay people administer to each other.

                We also discovered how sacramental draw us ever deeper into the sacraments and the beauty of Christian funerals.  We discovered how all of these things lead us to our ultimate end, which is the Beatific Vision.  Each sacrament builds on another, calling us ever deeper into the Water of Life, which is Christ Jesus.  Each one satisfies that God part of our soul, yet somehow they also create an ever increasing hunger for “more”, because with God, there is always “more” to be had.