173 Why We Need the Seven Sacraments

YOUCAT Lesson 173

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

173  Why do we need sacraments in the first place?

We need sacraments in order to outgrow our petty human life and to become like Jesus through Jesus: children of God in freedom and glory.  [1129]

Altarpiece: …..The Seven Sacraments  by Rogier van der Weyden dated around 1448. …..173

THE SACRAMENTS OF SALVATION

In Baptism the fallen children of men become cherished children of God; through Confirmation the weak become strong, committed Christians; through Penance the guilty are reconciled; through the Eucharist the hungry become bread for others; through Matrimony and Holy Orders individuals become servants of love; through the Anointing of the Sick the despairing become people of confidence.  The sacrament in all the sacraments is Christ himself.  In him we men, lost in selfishness, grow and mature into the true life that has no end.

Because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.  Romans 8:21

…….1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.( compare Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1604)⁵¹ "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature(compare 2 Peter 1:4)⁵²  by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition