HI,
Because we know that sacraments are signs, we sometimes forget that they are more than signs. They are actually signs that are and do what they signify. There are therefore highly personal. The love between husband and wife is not only a sign of Christ’s love for His Church, it is actually a concrete embodiment of it. But that embodiment of it is most concretely expressed in the marital chamber. This cannot be done by phone. No one can receive the Eucharist by phone…and no one can receive the personal, individual absolution of his sins by Christ through the physical presence of His priest by means of a phone call.
I’m glad you asked this because it gave me the opportunity to use some examples I had never though of in the past.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.
