Sacraments - Need to Know

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I would appreciate y’all’s help.

I will help lead the RCIA class on Sacraments this Sunday. I’ve read the material in the resource book (Come and See from St Anthony Messenger Press) and have read the sections in the CCC on Sacraments. I also went here to give me some focus.

Okay, this is where you come in. What is the most important thing you think people need to know about the sacraments? Converts: What questions did you have? Seekers: What questions do you have about the Sacraments of the Catholic Church? Cradle Catholics: What have you discovered about the Sacraments that inspired an “a-ha” moment?

Maybe this is a weird question. Give a shot anyway. You’ll be helping me a lot.

P.S. I’m planning on taling about Grace. The handout we all get? Hardly mentions it. That seems wrong.
 
If you’re planning on talking about Grace, that’s good. The old catechism definition of a sacrament that I learned was this: An outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.

Outward sign: words, water, oil, laying on of hands, etc.

Instituted by Christ: No need to argue the historical development of each sacrament. This is RCIA, not advanced sacramental history. But there are scriptural references referring to each sacrament.

To give grace: Because the sacraments operate by the power of God, (ex opere operato) they do not depend on the sanctity of the minister for their effectiveness. We can rely on them to always give grace.
 
Bruised Reed:
Cradle Catholics: What have you discovered about the Sacraments that inspired an “a-ha” moment?

Maybe this is a weird question. Give a shot anyway. You’ll be helping me a lot.

P.S. I’m planning on taling about Grace. The handout we all get? Hardly mentions it. That seems wrong.
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An ‘a-ha’ moment for me about the Sacraments is their biblical basis. As a cradle-Catholic who grew up in the 'who needs catechesis generation’ I knew very little about the ‘whys’ of our faith - *why do we believe what we believe? Why do we do what we do? * When I read The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn and John 6 for the first time, I was blown away. My entire life changed as I re-fell in love with the Lord in a whole new way. Mass and Eucharistic Adoration haven’t been the same since!
 
I think, emphasize the importance of the Eucharist, as being the source, center, and summit of the faith, and how all the other sacrements point to Him.
For all the teaching and learning we do, none is more profitable than that which is learned in silence in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Help them to understand, this awe inspiring gift, which Jesus promised to us so as to not leave us as orphans.
I think if you put heavy emphasis on the Eucharist all the others sacrement will have more meaning, especially confession.
God Bless you in your assistance to the Church.
 
As a convert, what was most important for me to learn about the Sacraments was:
  • that there are seven of them, neither can there be more or less, and that they were each individually, directly and personally established by Jesus Christ.
  • that they automatically confer an increase of sanctifying grace upon the recipient who does not hinder it
  • that receiving them configures me to Christ as prophet, priest and king, and merits for me an increase of heavenly glory.
 
Talk about:

matter
form
etc.

validity
licitity

For Eucharist:
Substance
Accidents
real presence

For:Confirmation
NOT A GRADUATION!.. HOLY SPIRIT!!!
 
Seven sacraments… INSTITUTED BY CHRIST!
I had my RCIA instructor propose that they were added later by the Church… ugh!

Who can recieve what Sacraments…
…only Catholics in a state of Grace.

Order of recieving… Baptism first…

valid and licit ministers of each Sacrament…
 
Please don’t neglect the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Many of us cradle Catholics don’t make enough use of this wonderful sacrament, let alone converts. We cradle Catholics truly need to be setting the example, serving as witnesses through visible use of it.

We learn in scripture, and through the homily or sermon in the Mass God’s law, his commandments, and the many lessons taught to us by His son, Jesus Christ.

In the sacrament of penance, the priest can enable us to apply it to specific situations in our life, aiding us in our quest for holiness. This is just one of many benefits, aside from grace typically received from valid use of the sacrament.

Hopefully, the RCIA class covered sin. What is sin? What kinds of sin are there (venial vs. mortal)? What are the seven deadly sins, and a review of some of the common “Examinations of Conscience”.

I guess I’m wondering if this RCIA class covers the sacraments over a period of weeks or all in one class. Seems to me it should be spread out, otherwise, they are getting a truly watered down version. No matter how well intentioned you are, there simply wouldn’t be enough time to convey all that they should be exposed to in one day.

BTW - thanks for sharing the faith and you are doing the right thing in consulting the CCC outside of those books they use for RCIA. Personally, I think more could be accomplished through a question and answer book, such as that written by Fr. John A. Hardon.
 
Once you teach them that the Sacraments are channels by which we receive God’s saving grace, please teach them to partake of the Sacraments! That pretty much boils down to Eucharist and Penance.

I look at it this way: Baptism and Confirmation are received only once. Annointing of the Sick is received only when in danger of death (and hopfully that happens only once). Marriage is received only once (unless death of spouse or annulment allows you to marry again). Holy Orders are received only once (unless the priest becomes a Bishop.)

So the only Sacraments that are repeated on a regular basis are Eucharist and Penance. Eucharist strengthens us and therefore should be something we try to partake of whenever we can (i.e. go to daily Mass when you can, in addition to partaking on Sunday), and Penance restores grace in us when we’ve lost it through sin (and we all sin, so go to Confession regularly).

This is what people need to know! We receive grace through the Sacraments! So, partake of the Sacraments!
 
Bruised Reed:
I would appreciate y’all’s help.

I will help lead the RCIA class on Sacraments this Sunday. I’ve read the material in the resource book (Come and See from St Anthony Messenger Press) and have read the sections in the CCC on Sacraments. I also went here to give me some focus.

Okay, this is where you come in. What is the most important thing you think people need to know about the sacraments? Converts: What questions did you have? Seekers: What questions do you have about the Sacraments of the Catholic Church? Cradle Catholics: What have you discovered about the Sacraments that inspired an “a-ha” moment?

Maybe this is a weird question. Give a shot anyway. You’ll be helping me a lot.

P.S. I’m planning on taling about Grace. The handout we all get? Hardly mentions it. That seems wrong.
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They are not magic, they are encounters with Christ. As with the Three Kings yesterday, once they encountered Christ they could not return the same way they came.
 
I always thought that the definition of Sacrament, as given by a theologian named Schantz (I cannot remember his first name) was the best, and it is grounded in the teaching of Vatican II. (Hopefully I will get it right - I am doing it from memory). He wrote, The sacraments are symbolic saving acts of Christ, in and through the Church by which we are united to Christ’s Paschal sacrifice and to Christ’s worship of the Father.

(I would also recommend reading about the meaning of “Symbol” as presented by Pope Benedict XVI’s work “Introduction to Christianity”.)

I think in in using this definition there are several important points. First, the primary Sacrament is Christ Jesus Himself. Second, the sacraments are Christ’s actions, not man’s, incarnate through the actions of the Church. And third, is the liturgical aspect of each sacrament, that is in each sacrament there is the communal worship of God therefore there is a communal aspect of each sacrament, they are never done for just the individual such as in the case of Reconcilation or the Anointing of the Sick.

And finally, using this definition, I think it is easy to understand the centrality of the Eucharist in the Life and Worship of the Church.
 
Personally, rather than call sacraments symbols, I prefer to say they are all meetings with Christ in the persona of the minister. Each Sacrament will have symbols in it…Water, Holy Oils, Laying of hands etc. The Holy Eucharist however is not a symbol it is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. Before I do any teaching, I pray to the Holy Spirit to put the right words in my mouth…and I have never been refused this gift. Congratulations on your accepting this ministry.
 
Bruised Reed:
I would appreciate y’all’s help.

I will help lead the RCIA class on Sacraments this Sunday. I’ve read the material in the resource book (Come and See from St Anthony Messenger Press) and have read the sections in the CCC on Sacraments. I also went here to give me some focus.

Okay, this is where you come in. What is the most important thing you think people need to know about the sacraments? Converts: What questions did you have? Seekers: What questions do you have about the Sacraments of the Catholic Church? Cradle Catholics: What have you discovered about the Sacraments that inspired an “a-ha” moment?

Maybe this is a weird question. Give a shot anyway. You’ll be helping me a lot.

P.S. I’m planning on taling about Grace. The handout we all get? Hardly mentions it. That seems wrong.
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As a cradle Catholic, I don’t know if I have any big a-ha s but I would say that it’s very important to stress the Real Presence. So many people think it’s symbolic or just plain have never heard it is actually the Body and Blood of Our Lord. You might also want to invest in the Beginning Apologetics course found in the CA bookstore.
 
Thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut. Each post has given me something I needed - something I hadn’t thought of, something I had, but your (name removed by moderator)ut confirmed I’m going in the right direction and/or helped me narrow down my focus because, hey, we will get less than an hour (probably 45 minutes max) to impress upon the candidates/catechumens the significance of the Sacraments of the Church. Whew!

And I don’t care for the guide we have to use and that’s the most generous thing I will say about it.

I need to go finish this up now.

Thanks again.

Oh, I will check this again later tonight in case you have more good stuff.
 
I hasten to add - Please pray for me and my co-leader(or facilitator or whatever we are).

I’m really deviating from what the other leaders do and I’m taking my seasoned (this is my first year) partner with me (almost whether she wants to or not) I don’t mean to mavrick this but I feel I have to to get to the good stuff. It means more work and taking responsibility for getting the info right. I know I won’t have enough time to cover everything.

I’m praying that:
what we share is correct
anything erroneous is forgotten :o
that I don’t overwhelm them
that we whet their appetites for more
that they get excited about becoming/being Catholic and partaking of the sacraments:dancing:

Okay…back to work.

ETA Okay I do mean to “mavrick” this. I just hope this doesn’t cause problems somehow.
 
Well, the class is over and I think it went okay. I’m aware that I’m my own worst critic so it really is hard for me to say. I don’t think Sister was thrilled that I didn’t use any of the material from the binder (with Catholic Updates) this time*.

Thanks again. After the Holy Spirit and the CCC, y’all were my secret weapon.

*For a taste of what we have to deal with read this Catholic Update on Mary by a well known dissident. Filled with heresy. Fortuanately, we didn’t read the whole thing but we read the part where Mary had other children. Oy. This is the Update on Sacraments assigned in case you were dying to know.:rolleyes:
 
Bruised Reed,

Congratulations on a successful presentation!

I read the update on the sacraments. :sleep: . I unfortunately had Martos’ “Door to the Scared” as a textbook on the sacraments.

Except for one quote from the Catechism, the rest of the update was very UNedifying. The sacraments are rituals? Ok, check. Now can we talk about what the sacraments DO?

No such luck. Exhibit A from the update:
Sacraments, though, are no ordinary celebrations. They are special occasions for experiencing God’s saving presence.
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Oh, sacraments are special occasions! But, wait, I thought that was the definition of a celebration?

.

But what really depressed me is the following excerpt:
The Catholic sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred, significant and important for Christians. Members of the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican/Episcopal traditions call seven of their religious ceremonies sacraments. Most Protestants count only two rituals—Baptism and Communion—as sacraments. Nevertheless, Protestants have ceremonies that are similar to Catholic sacraments, for example, weddings and ordinations.
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The Catholic sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred? Not so! They are sacred.

Catholics “call seven of the their religious ceremonies sacraments”? Ok, but let’s avoid the danger of nominalism here and say that Catholics recognize that there ARE seven sacraments. I don’t think I would read in a biology textbook that scientists “call” lizards reptiles, would I?

VC
 
Sorry I didn’t see this sooner. For future reference, Steve Ray put together a “Sacrament Chart” with all the pertinent info on the Sacraments. To get a copy, go to his site www.catholic-convert.com In the Information bar, click on Resources, then on Writings, then on Steve Ray’s Writings. Scroll down to General Topics, and go to Sacrament Chart. I think you will find it very helpful. My dh & I are RCIA catechists at our parish, and we hand it out to our candidates and catechumens whe we discuss the Sacraments.
Peace,
Linda
 
I like the Eastern term, Mysteries, even though I am a Latin Rite Catholic.

I am fond of a Church that has different rites with slightly differnt outlooks in disciplines on the same sacraments, and agrees on the importnat parts.

I like that they are biblically based.

I like that they are encounters with Christ.

I like that they confer grace.

I like that Confirmation is the Gifts of the Holy Spirit- but I especially like that it is the bishop confirming one’s baptism, and not the confirmand confirming his or her own baptism.
 
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