THE P RTAL
July 2014
Page 6
The A - Z of the Catholic Faith
S is for…
Sacraments
Our lives are transformed by the seven
sacraments that Christ gave to his Church. The
sacraments are sacred signs through which Christ
gives his divine life to us. Through them we worship
God, he shows his love to us, and his work of making
us holy is carried out. The sacraments give us a share
in God’s own life through the gift of the Holy
Spirit and through our response of faith.
Baptism and Confirmation unite
us with the death and resurrection
of Jesus and make us members of
his Body, the Church. Marriage
and Ordination give us specific
vocations. Penance (‘Confession’)
and Anointing bring us forgiveness
and healing. And in the greatest
sacrament, the sacrament of the
Eucharist (‘the Mass’) Christ does
not just give us his gifts, he gives us
himself, and leads us to the Father
through his sacrifice.
We need these visible signs. We
are not airy, ethereal beings: we are
physical and spiritual beings; with
thoughts and feelings; with bodies,
minds and hearts. God has shown
his divine love to the world through
the humanity of Jesus Christ, through his body, his
mind and his heart.
Who could have imagined, if they had not known
Christ, that Almighty God loves us with such intimacy
and tenderness, or with such ferocity and passion, or
with such humility and sacrifice?
The eternal Son of God, God himself, did not remain
distant and hidden, he became human — someone
whom we could hear, whom we could see with our
own eyes, whom we could touch with our own hands.
In each generation in the Church, we are not just left
with memories or feelings or ideas about Christ — we
can see him and hear him and touch him because of
his presence in the sacraments.
The Sacrifice Of Calvary
Jesus showed the depth of his love by suffering and
dying in agony on a cross for us. This horrific death so
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many years ago might seem quite disconnected from
God’s love. What have love and suffering got to do
with each other?
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, chose to enter our
world, to share not just in our human
nature, but also in our human ‘condition’.
Although completely without sin, he
was not insulated from the reality of
the fallen world. He could have run
away from suffering and death. He
could have said ‘No’, like we often do,
and taken the easy way out.
Instead, he freely chose to keep
loving, to keep seeking justice and
truth