Sacraments

Sacraments of Vocations

The sacraments of vocation are Marriage and Holy Orders (i.e. the diaconate, priesthood, and the episcopacy).

They symbolize that our life with Christ is not just a series of discrete moments, but that there is overarching theme to what we are about.

We called to follow Christ by following a path, a direction, a meaning given to us personally. The essence of that call is discipleship, the listening to and the acting like Christ, to the best of our ability.

Not everyone experiences this call by being married and not everyone experiences it by being ordained. We all experience it, however, through some form of dedication to some person, group, or profession, to the common good

Sacraments of Healing

The sacraments of healing are Reconciliation and Anointing of the sick.

If marriage and holy orders reveal that God is always moving us to self-donation on behalf of others and common good, reconciliation and anointing of the sick reveal that God never gives up on us when we are caught up in the cycle of self-preoccupation, the sinfulness of the human condition.

Sacraments of Initiation

There are three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. As the name implies, these are encounters with Christ which introduce a person into the life the Christ shares with the Father and Holy Spirit, i.e. into the inner life of God himself.

This may come across as a bit esoteric but that's because we often think of sacraments as opportunities to "get something" from God. We find ourselves using God the way we often use others. Christ came to show us, however, that God desires to be our friend and the essence of friendship is sharing one's life with one's friend. Since God's life is the life of the Father and Son loving each other perfectly through the Spirit, he invites us, in these first sacraments, to share that life with us.

Sacraments