Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi
Title of Series: "Sacraments: The Catholic Faith Celebrated"

Part 1: "Sacraments: Transforming Encounters with Christ"

October 4th, 2007
First Thursday

A very special and warm welcome to each and every one of you as we continue this year our second look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the new United States Catechism for Adults. Our eight meditations will be presented in part through the prism of our late Holy Father John Paul II and the writings of Benedict XVI. I have entitled this series of meditations "Sacraments: The Catholic Faith Celebrated.” The title of this first reflection is “Sacraments: Transforming Encounters with Christ.”

Last year, we studied the first pillar of the catechism, set forth in both catechisms, a pillar that focused on the Creed -- the Faith Professed. All nine meditations can be found at the Little Flower website at www.lfparish.org. How appropriate that the Church made “faith” the first pillar of her catechisms. For the Catechism (and when I refer to catechism in these meditations I mean both of them) is a book about faith, our faith -- the faith of our mothers and fathers. It is a faith which, whether we consciously admit it or not, has sustained us throughout our lives -- at moments of new life and at death, at times when we struggle to give meaning to otherwise meaningless situations, at those times of life-long vocational commitments (be they marriage, vowed or ordained life), and all those many moments in between.

Our faith acts, often unknowingly, as a lens through which we see the world, embrace the world, critic the world, and make efforts to live in a world that can be very challenging. And the Catechism is about faith. It is about faith seeking understanding, the coming up of "reasons" for our hope. It is about recouping a sense of "joy" in being a Catholic Christian. In faith, there are concrete answers to so many of our problems and challenges. Contemporary life need not simply be a continued and endless barrage of unanswered questions or open-ended confusion.

Christ, after all, is the Answer, "the way, the truth and the light." And the Catechism helps us understand how it is that Jesus Christ is the answer to the human cryptogram. It helps us see this Truth in a systematic and accessible way. The catechism is a fundamental and organic synthesis of our entire faith, of what we believe as Catholics. In the words of John Paul II, it is "a sure norm for teaching the faith." We continually rejoice -- or we should continually rejoice -- in the great and mighty deeds God has done in order to save us. That's at the heart of our faith.

Now how is the Catechism arranged? There are 4 Pillars or 4 sections: l.) The Profession of Faith (what we believe, the creed), 2.) The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (the sacraments, communal prayer, liturgy), 3.) Life in Christ (the commandments, how we live, morality) and 4.) Christian Prayer (how we pray together and alone). This pattern -- creed, sacraments, morality and prayer -- followed the same format as the early Roman Catechism that was published in the 16th century after the Council of Trent. Although following the "old" traditional order, the contents of both catechisms are often expressed in a "new" way in order to respond to the questions of our age and our American culture. Our precious faith is always old, always new.

Although broken into four parts, there is an interconnectedness among the parts, an organic structure to the presentation of the faith. Unity is after all an essential feature of the Christian faith. Faith must be seen in its totality, not in selected reflections simply on parts which we find congenial, a kind of al a carte Catholicism. The Catechism seeks to build a synthesis, an organic view of the faith. This is its unique strength.

During this year -- the eight meditations that follow -- we will look at the second section of the Catechism, a section entitled "The Celebration of the Christian Mystery" or in the American Catechism: “The Sacraments: The Faith Celebrated.” Both catechisms treat the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church. They explain how God's salvation, accomplished once and for all through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, is made present, is prolonged in time and space, our time and space, in the sacred actions of the Church's liturgy, especially in the seven sacraments. They explain how the liturgy and the sacraments of the Church enable each one of us to become a real part in God's plan to save the world, to draw Life from the Risen Lord with each and every sacramental encounter, a Life which continues to transform and change us and make us concrete icons of the Lord Jesus for the world to see. The teaching we will study is concrete and not just theoretical. Hopefully, it will answer or raise questions that you might have.

Now in my twenty-third year of priesthood, I have come to appreciate more and more the Catechism's statement that "the sacred liturgy [itself] does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church: it must be preceded by evangelization, faith and conversion." CCC 1072 I am sure it is no surprise to you that so many of our Catholic people fail to understand the rich and life-giving meaning of the sacraments, of the Church's liturgy -- often through no fault their own. All the more reason to spend a year of prayerful study about the sacraments, the sacraments as a whole, the 7 individual sacraments. The Catechism is a very helpful way to make that study. It is a wonderful gift of the Church.

I will always remember a couple that I helped prepare for marriage early on in my priesthood. In our first
session, before talking about the "sacrament of marriage," I asked them what I thought would be a more fundamental and basic question -- what is a sacrament? Surprisingly, and to my chagrin, the best answer I could get was: "a sacrament is a gift of God." When I said that so was good weather a gift of God, I was met by blank stares. Collectively they could only name 4 of the 7 sacraments. They both had gone to Catholic grade schools, high schools, and even excellent Catholic colleges. I know that this experience of mine regrettably is symbolic of a wider phenomenon in the Church then and now. What is more problematical is that the 7 sacraments are uniquely Catholic. In fact, they help define us as Catholics.

Is it then any surprise to see the discouraging results of recent polls of the number of Catholics who fail to attend Sunday Mass each Sunday? Some polls have said that only 25 - 30% do. Citing the Code of Canon Law, the Catechism states that "the Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sunday and feast days." CCC 1389

Or that the Sacrament of Penace has dropped off considerably in the Church since the Vatican Council although there are signs of a movement in the right direction? The “Light is ON for You” outreach last Lent in our Archdiocese and the perennial “Come Home for Christmas” outreach in many of our parishes has born fruit.

Or that there are those for sure who fail to consider, before receiving Holy Communion, whether they are worthy to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whether they must first receive the Sacrament of Penance? The catechism teaches that "anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion." CCC 1385

Or that many Catholics in their 20s and 30s have not received the Sacrament of Confirmation? The catechism clearly teaches that "Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace." CCC 1285 Together, Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation." Since the three form a unity, without Confirmation and the Eucharist, Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.

Or that it is often unknown that the Anointing of the Sick (what used to be called Extreme Unction or last rites) "is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death." CCC 1514 It is available for those who are seriously sick or prior to a serious operation.

Or that parents often delay in having a child baptized using the so-called argument that we will wait to allow the child to decide which faith he/she chooses to have. The catechism states that "the Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth." CCC1250

Now I am sure that each of you, and each one of your family members, knows the definition of a sacrament. Let us repeat it -- “A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” Or as the catechism states at CCC1131: "The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us." I would like to ask you a
favor -- would you kindly commit to memory that definition if you do not know the first. It is the only formula that I will ask you to memorize this year.

In the months ahead, emphasis will be on the unique aspects of each of the individual sacraments. In the time remaining today, I wish to emphasize what is common to all of the sacraments -- a celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, of His dying and rising and our encounter with Him in each of the sacraments, each bringing with it “some particular grace.” USCCA 169

To understand the concept of "sacrament," it is important to understand its biblical roots. The word
sacrament or the Latin word sacramentum was given by Tertullian around 180 A.D. It is the Latin translation of the Greek work MYSTERION. This word MYSTERION gives us a key to the richness of the sacramental and liturgical life. Commonly translated it means Mystery. It is not a mystery in the sense of an Agatha Christie novel with complicated plots or clever ploys.

St. Paul uses the word MYSTERION, from which the Latin word sacramentum derives, 21 times. In Eph 3:9, he refers to the "plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God." In Eph 5: 32, referring to marriage, he refers to it as "a great mystery."

The word "mystery" refers to the "work of God." "The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal Mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.'...the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation." CCC 1067

This Paschal Mystery -- this dying and rising -- is a mystery because it is the action of God -- a mystery gradually unveiled and revealed in Christ Jesus. This mystery is unveiled to those who have been called to and initiated in the faith -- you and me. For those outside the faith, it is still a mystery.

The liturgy, the sacramental life of the Church, puts us in touch with the hidden, inner (mysterious) life
of God, revealed in the words and deeds of Jesus, most fully in the Paschal or Easter mystery -- His death and resurrection.

Liturgy, from the Greek "leitourgos" means "public work." In our context, it means our participation in the work of God -- principally in His Paschal Mystery. Liturgy is the work of the entire Trinity. “At every liturgy, the action of worship is directed to the Father, from whom all blessings come, through the Son in the Unity of the Holy Spirit.” USCCA 167 Although the entire body of Christ celebrates the liturgy, within the assembly, the ordained person has a unique function of service. USCCA 171

It would be a mistake to consider the 7 sacraments -- those primary liturgical moments in our lives as Catholics -- as isolated events with no link to each other or no link to Christ and His Church. They are various aspects of the One Paschal or Easter Mystery -- various aspects of one mystery. They, each in their own way, are a prolongation in time and space of the unique mystery of Jesus Christ, above all His passion, death and resurrection -- out of love for us. Through the liturgy, through the sacraments, Christ Himself, and all He did to save us, is rendered present, most especially His Paschal Mystery.

Each sacramental encounter brings us in touch with the living and risen Jesus Christ, an encounter which changes and transforms us, i.e. gives us grace. It is God's unique vehicle for reaching and changing you and me. The catechism emphasizes that "for believers” the sacraments are “necessary for salvation.” CCC 1129 At the same time, even though God works primarily through the sacraments, “he also touches us through the community of the Church, through the lives of holy people, through prayer, spirituality and acts of love.” USCCA 170 “Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present. The Paschal Mystery of Christ is celebrated, not repeated. ["He did this once for all when he offered up himself" -- Heb 7:27] It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present." CCC 1104

The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass and the
other sacraments. “Sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are the actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are ‘the masterworks of God’ in the new and everlasting covenant.” CCC1116

In Pope Benedict’s recent book entitled “Jesus of Nazareth,” he asks a perceptive question at the outset. What did Jesus actually bring us? He states: “The answer is very simple: God.” (p.44) At the end of the book, he states that “man needs one thing.” He states: “He needs God.” (pp 353-4)In the sacraments, each of us encounters God. We uniquely encounter the transforming power of Jesus.

To this end, I invite you to contemplate the beautiful fresco at the beginning of this section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The early Christian depiction of the woman suffering from a hemorrhage who is healed by contact with Jesus' robe serves as a symbol of the sacramental life of the Church. To understand this passage more fully, remember that a person with a hemorrhage was considered unclean, separated from the faith. By her healing, she became clean and reunited to the faith. So too, the sacraments heal, cleanse and unite us to the body of Christ. They continue in our day the works which Christ had performed during his early life. The sacraments are as it were 'powers that go forth' from the Body of Christ to heal the wounds of sin and to give us the new life of Christ. “Jesus’ words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his paschal mystery.” CCC 1115 The sacraments uniquely bring us God.

In conclusion, I wish to review the 7 sacraments from a very specific angle. Later meditations will expand our understanding of the individual sacraments. See how each of them brings us in touch with the living and risen Jesus, the Jesus who died and rose out of love for us, how each one of them brings us -- even now in our day -- into the paschal mystery, the dying and rising experience, the paschal event accomplished by Jesus out of love for our salvation. They are transforming encounters. They are not isolated events. They are a part of one central mystery, MYSTERION, His paschal mystery.

"The Paschal mystery of Christ... cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is--all that he did and suffered for all men -- participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life.” CCC 1085

Each sacrament is our transformartive share in the dying/rising experience of Jesus, which is essential for our salvation.

Baptism -- "the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us." CCC 1269 The baptized becomes forever a member of the living body of the risen Christ.

Confirmation -- the person receives the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit which is the Easter gift given on Pentecost as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

Eucharist -- it is the sacrament of sacraments, the memorial, the rendering present, of the dying and rising of Christ, the sacrament which strengthens our union, our communion, with the Risen Christ. It is a growth in the grace of Baptism that makes possible the growth in the Christian life.

Penance -- it is a dying to sin and in the words of the catechism "a spiritual resurrection." CCC 1468 Why? It restores us to the life of the Risen Lord -- death to sin, healing and reconciliation.

Anointing -- "by the grace of this sacrament the sick person receives the strength and the gift of uniting himself more closely to Christ's Passion: in a certain way his is consecrated to bear fruit by configuration to the Savior's redemptive Passion." CCC 1521 There is a particular gift of the Holy Spirit -- peace -- the courage to overcome difficulties of serious illness.

Holy Orders -- in persona Christi, the priest acts as representative of Christ, head of the church. He is a vessel for Christ. Christ acts through the person of the priest. The priest is configured to Christ by special grace of the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift, to serve as Christ. “The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church.” CCC 1120

Marriage -- Christ enters a special covenant with a man and woman who become a married couple. "Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens...” CCC 1642 This encounter with Christ enables couples to give to each other the same kind of total and free and selfless love that characterized Christ’s love on the cross for us, a deep share in His paschal mystery. Referring to marriage, as the great mystery, MYSTERION, St. Paul refers to it, the love between a man and woman, as that loving relation of Christ and the Church. Eph. 5:32

Each of these sacraments has consequences for the Christian life -- how we lead our lives as followers of Jesus. “The saving grace of the dying and rising of Christ are communicated to us in the Sacraments so that we might live more perfectly Christ’s truth and virtues such as love, justice, mercy, and compassion.” USCCA 176

The November meditation is entitled “Baptism: Gateway to the Christian Life.” It treats the sections of the catechism that treat this first sacrament.

I encourage you to prepare for my talk by reading this section, a little each day, a part of your daily prayer. Use the scripture references as you read. Please do not become discouraged. Our faith is not simply formulas in a catechism but rather the realities they express. Our trust in the reality of God does not end with the formal or material expression of doctrine. It rests importantly in the personal reality of God proclaimed by that doctrine. At the heart of your study is the mystery of a living person, the mystery of Jesus Christ. That is the challenge of the catechism: to let God help us to touch Him in the beauty of how He continues to reveal Himself to each of us. In the words of Pope Benedict, Jesus came to bring us God.

Amen