Sacraments – By Sr Margaret Ghosn MSHF

In 1247 CE the Catholic Church declared there were seven sacraments. The seven sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Marriage, Priesthood and Anointing of the Sick, share their origin in Scripture: Mt 28:19, Lk 22:19, Jn 20:21-23, Acts 2. The sacraments are symbolic actions in which humans are engaged as believers. Sacraments are the concrete offer of salvation and communicate that God’s plan is for the whole of the created order. Through the sacraments, we participate in the Mystery, which gives meaning and transforms our lives. Jesus’ life was Sacramental, so when we celebrate sacraments, it is what Jesus was doing in his earthly ministry. We are drawn into the mystery, salvation and fullness of Christ. Sacraments are about experiencing and being transformed by the power of God, through the elements of Creation, which confer grace. The Ecumenical Statement (n.5) says that in experiencing that the Holy Spirit allows the Risen Christ to become present in our midst. Through the Spirit, the Church truly becomes the mystical body of Christ, the messianic people of God and a sacrament of Christ the Servant.

Sacrament of Baptism

Jesus refers to his death as a Baptism (Mk 10:38) in which he is plunged not into water but into calamity and death. Jesus’ Baptism (Mk 1:9-11) becomes a sacrament of his death on the Cross and forgiveness of sin. The Rite of Baptism sees the Baptised as engrafted in the likeness of Christ’s death, buried with him, and given life to rise again. Baptism is becoming one in faith, a sacramental people, a dwelling place of God (Ep 4:6). In the early Church, baptismal fonts were built in the shape of a cross or tomb, since Baptism was seen as a sacrament of being raised from the dead to a higher, immortal and incorruptible nature, which occurred through water and the Spirit. Water was the dwelling place of wicked powers, but also in Creation, the Spirit hovered over the waters, making it a place from which life emerges. The Roman prayer speaks of a new people, exorcism, baptising all nations, washing and cleansing, as does the Maronite prayer. The Spirit is the seed of life, making us adopted children, heirs with Christ (Rm 8:9). Original sin is being born into a context in which sin is alive and effects the infant. The Sacrament of Baptism allows God’s initiative in our Salvation, the gratuitous gift of grace and communitarian care. The Sacrament of Baptism is about incorporation into the Church, becoming part of a people, being caught up in the Divine nature through the bestowal of the Holy Spirit.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Confirmation is not simply a ritual of anointing chrism on the forehead, but is about confirming someone’s Baptism. Confirmation in the early centuries wasn’t perceived as a Sacrament separate from Baptism. Only since the fifth century, there was a shift from initiation associated with Easter, to association with Pentecost. It is about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and so one is given special strength to bear witness to Christ. It was only recently in the Vatican II mandate, was it expressed that Confirmation should show an intimate connection with the whole initiation process, being a completion of Baptism, leading to Eucharist participation, through the grace of the Spirit. In the Maronite Church, Confirmation occurs at the same time as the Sacrament of Baptism.

Sacrament of the Eucharist

Through celebration of the Eucharist, one witnesses the building up of a community at work. The Church invokes the Spirit, to be sanctified and renewed, led into justice, truth, unity and empowered to fulfil its mission in the world. The Holy Spirit, through the Eucharist gives a foretaste of the Kingdom. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (Jn 6:54). In Eucharist, salvation is sacramentally present and united. In the assembled people and the gifts prepared, the hopes, joys and problems of creation, are present, through thanksgiving, memorial and petition. They implore God’s blessing and look forward to the perfection of redemption.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Soren Kierkegaard writes, ‘When it is a question of a sinner God does not merely stand still, open his arms and say, ‘Come hither’; no, God stands there and waits, as the father of the lost son waited, rather God does not stand and wait, he goes forth to seek, as the shepherd sought the lost sheep, as the woman sought the lost coin. God goes – yet no, he has gone, but infinitely further than any shepherd or woman, God went, in sooth, the infinitely long way from being God to becoming man, and that way God went in search of sinners’. Furthermore, Gerard Moore writes that sacramental reconciliation is often presented as a work we do to make ourselves pleasing to God, but the reality is that it is a response we make to the divine initiative. We are drawn to the sacrament of reconciliation because of the experience of divine mercy and compassion. In reconciliation, not only are the sins people commit forgiven, but also their sense of estrangement from God and hostility to the world is healed with acknowledgement and compassion.

Sacrament of Ordination

Sacrament of Holy Order is meant to be a charismatic gift for the benefit of all. Those who are ordained to the priesthood are those who have the fundamental desire to work as disciples of the Lord. Robert Barron sees the homily of the ordained as a task to bring God’s word to human realities in insightful and effective ways. The priest is to be a bridge builder, linking the human and divine and the homily should fan the flame of the prophetic spirit in the assembly. The priest must be one who at his core, has been set on fire by God and invites others to catch the flame. A priest’s pastoral and sacramental role are vital, yet the primary task of the priest is to form a parish which is about a community, gathered to share and grow mutually from one another and as ‘servants of God’s mercy’. We can’t define priesthood in what the priest does and what everyone else does not. This becomes reduced to Eucharist and reconciliation and in fact, even here the whole Church participates. The ordained is not about function, but living out one’s life for the rest of the community in a chosen way. The ordained minister is one who with his whole existence is given to serving those things which make the church be what God has called it to be in God’s gracious plan for humanity.