Live 4 The LORD

The Sacraments

The story of the water from the rock is really important for an understanding of the Catholic Sacraments. When the people are thirsty a second time, they need water from the rock again. But the rock doesn’t need to be struck again, rather, God’s minister needs to speak the word in front of the sacramental sign, and the water will flow. 

So too with the sacraments, which are God’s chosen mechanism for the distribution of the grace won by Christ. 

1. Christ is the rock, and when He was struck at Calvary, all the graces of salvation flowed like water from His pierced heart. And even though we weren’t there for that event, we still need those graces. 
2. So the Lord has ordained that His chosen ministers will speak the word (which we call the form of the sacrament) combined with the sacramental sign (which we call the matter of the sacrament). And the saving grace that first flowed from Christ on the Cross will flow again to us.

The Catechism teaches that the saving events from the past will be made present for us, so we can be kept spiritually alive. 

Every sacrament consists of matter (the physical sign) and form (the words spoken). For example: 

1. In Baptism, the matter is water; the form is, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 
2. In the Eucharist, the matter is bread and wine; the form is Christ’s words of consecration. 
3. In Holy Orders, the matter is the laying on of hands by a bishop, ordaining a baptized with the consecratory prayer. 

The sign must signify what the sacrament does. Water cleanses, bread and wine nourish, and a man alone can signify Christ the Bridegroom, who gives Himself to His Bride, the Church. As St. John Paul II taught, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Bridegroom and the Bride. A woman cannot sacramentally represent the Bridegroom; the sign would be inaccurate, and the sacrament invalid.

Faithfulness to Christ’s design safeguards the sacraments’ power and meaning. Therefore, fidelity to the matter and form instituted by Christ is essential. The sacraments are not human creations; they are physical signs and words established by the Lord Himself. When Moses deviated from God’s command at the rock, it placed the people at grave risk. How much more serious would it be to alter the signs and words Christ Himself entrusted to the Church?

The Church does not invent the sacraments. She receives them, guards them, and faithfully hands them on.

The sacraments are not mere symbols. They are the true source of Living Water in a dry and thirsty world. Through them, Christ sustains our souls.

1. Go frequently to the Eucharist Go frequently to Confession. Return again and again to the place where grace flows. But it is not enough to stand at the river. It is not enough to reach the well. The river of grace flows from the pierced Heart of Jesus through the sacraments. 
2. If we want to live, we must drink. And we drink by prayer, by daily meditation, by opening the soul to receive what the sacraments pour out.

The sacraments bring us to the river. Daily meditation enables us to drink deeply. The two belong together. In the desert of life, this is how we remain spiritually alive: We go to the river. And we drink.

From Blogger iPhone client