Sacraments and Protestants

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I added that one from Revelations because last year I attended this Beth Moore Bible study at the parish women’s group. And she was discussing the great insights the Lord was teaching her.

She glossed over the Lamb with 7 eyes…it does sound weird…but then so does alot in Revelations for me personally. And I am drawing on the Sacraments from this perspective that the Church gets its life not from some perceptions that it is all about power and money …but from the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

And yes, as Ben Hur states, the Church is an institution. Most definitely.

We have our 4 square: Sacred Scripture, the Constitution of the Liturgy, the Episcopacy and Canon Law, and doctrine and morality and prayer in the Catholic Church Catechism.

We have wheat with the chaff as well…so we must really work to keeping our eyes on the Lord, drawing on all the good about Christ and in Christ, and pray for our clergy with penance.

My friend attended Dr Scott Hahn’s teaching on ‘Revelations’. I couldn’t take it and it worked for a 3 hour college credit. Anyway, I called my friend to ask her what it was all about.

She said Revelations is all about good triumphing over evil…the work already completed…we just have to persevere…the triumph is Jesus’ death on the Cross by the shedding of His blood.

I am in this parish right by me, after 23 years looking down at it from up on this hillside where I live, the Holy Spirit guided me to finally join…have to work closer to home. But everything is being re done by new pastor and in the future we will be having Catholic bible study with all the references to the catechism, Councils, saints, and spirituality.
 
KathleenGee said:
And yes, as Ben Hur states, the Church is an institution. Most definitely.
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Hi Kathleen

Yes, it is an institution, even a “Body”. Yet, as I stated, there is a fine line between trusting in an institution and trusting in the Savior it is supposed to purport. A bit like hanging out in a garage does not turn you into a car ( even if you wash and wax yourself in there, and put good fuel into yourself, etc…)

Blessings
 
That which is erected…remember, what Peter bound on earth is bound in heaven…there is the institutional side that is divinely inspired as the Church develops…to serve the existing circumstances it is living in at that particular time…these are small ecclesial traditions that are specific to a particular culture or event…and can change.

The Big T Traditions: Books of Scripture, the spirit, tone, pats and intent of liturgy, the ecclesial authority and the Creed…never change…as well as the Councils…those of the pope and all bishops in communion with the laity…comprise the interpretive of these times in how we relate to God, to Scripture, to the Liturgy…to the hierarchy, and the Creed.

The Pope, bishops, cardinals, bishops and lay…before God…we are all equal. We don’t put the clergy on pedestals…because that has led to pride and other sins and abuse.

We get our directives from our local bishop on whatever comes up from the pope or commissions or events in the world

But there is the divine aspect to the institution that is of Christ and not man. We are all to be servants of God, and we are likewise well aware of our own sinfulness…as we have the pope go publicly to confession on his knees to confess his sins as well.

Church is pretty transparent.
 
You are welcome!

Ben Hur…Yes…the Church is a human institution, but also divine…coming from Christ, the Lifeblood of the Church…the Living Word of God…the Living Cornerstone.

As my pastor told us…don’t look at him, but listen to what he says…and this is true in regards to our bishop and pope.

The key point is that the Catholic Church holds the fullness of Christ…in Word and Sacrament, worship, morality, and the testimony of the saints…

All of us must work out our salvation with God. The Church is as a mother that points us to Him. It is a matter of experiencing Our Lord in Holy Communion…I received mine in 1956 and I never doubted Him. I didn’t do too well in catechism. Not until I was in my 30’s…I spent more time on the sacraments of penance and Holy Communion and the Gospel…particularly the beatitudes and corporal and spiritual works of mercy. I would experience communion of God and humanity and creation at Mass…the focus, the source, Christ Himself.

I told my grandmother when I got back from the missions that I was not an American Catholic…but a Roman Catholic…she misunderstood me…they were having so much error then…and she told me to go to Mass and confession, keep my eyes on God and not look at particular priests…the one that bugged her is at present…40 years later…in prison for political activism…sad to say.

But she helped me re-integrate back to my local faith after being in the Latin European missions. Keep my eyes on the Lord, learn more my faith, and not look to man.

Let me further clarify… keep our eyes on the Lord…through Word and Sacrament at Mass, obey the Church laws, especially on keeping the Lord’s Day holy…keeping our morality and the sanctity of human life…following the Gospel…
 
IGotQuestions said:
Could somebody here explain what a Sacrament is for the lay person?
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A Sacrament is the physical sign of Christ’s grace on earth. It contains signs that, by the power of God, actually do the things that they signify.

For example, the water of Baptism actually washes the soul clean from sin. The bread and the wine actually become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, and those who consume the consecrated bread and wine actually do enter into both physical and spiritual communion with Him. The words of Absolution in Confession actually forgive the sins of the person making the Confession. The Oil of the Sick actually strengthens the sick person who is being anointed, as does the Oil of Chrism in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The laying on of hands by the Bishop actually confers the Sacrament of Ordination, and sets the man apart as a priest or deacon.

Christ came to us in a physical body and with physical signs. It makes sense that He continues to administer His grace to us with physical signs.
 
Thanks…and it is amazing how different Catholics’ participation gives you that much more depth and insight.

We all come from different angles…very enriching.
 
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