YOUCAT Lesson 174
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth
174 Why is faith in Jesus Christ not enough? Why does God give us the sacraments, too?
We can and should come to God with all our senses, not just
with the intellect. That is why God
gives himself to us in earthly signs—especially in bread and wine, the Body and
Blood of Christ. [1084, 1146-1152]
…..God
speaks to man through the visible creation. The material cosmos is so presented
to man's intelligence that he can read there traces of its Creator (see CCC
#1147 below).
Photo: .....Experiencing God’s creation in the natural order during 2014 Western family trip: Hope, Beth, Stephan and Kenneth. Photo by Don C.
People saw Jesus, heard him, could touch him and thereby
experience salvation and healing in the body and soul. The sensible signs of the sacraments show
this same signature of God, who desires to address the whole man—not just his
head.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain
to life and godliness…by which he has granted to us his precious and very great
promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the
world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. 2
Peter 1:3
…….CHRIST'S WORK IN THE LITURGY
…….1084 "Seated at the right hand of the
Father" and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church,
Christ now acts through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace.
The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our
human nature. By the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they
make present efficaciously the grace that they signify. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
…….HOW IS THE LITURGY
CELEBRATED?
…….1145 A
sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the
divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation
and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and fully
revealed in the person and work of Christ. –CCC
…….1146 Signs of the human world. In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. As a
being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through
physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to
communicate with others, through language, gestures, and actions. The same
holds true for his relationship with God. –CCC
…….1147 God
speaks to man through the visible creation. The material cosmos is so presented
to man's intelligence that he can read there traces of its Creator.( compare Wisdom 13:1; Romans 1:19
f.; Acts of the Apostles 14:17)16 Light and darkness, wind and fire, water and earth, the tree and
its fruit speak of God and symbolize both his greatness and his nearness. –CCC
…….1148 Inasmuch as they are creatures, these perceptible realities can
become means of expressing the action of God who sanctifies men, and the action
of men who offer worship to God. The same is true of signs and symbols taken
from the social life of man: washing and anointing, breaking bread and sharing
the cup can express the sanctifying presence of God and man's gratitude toward
his Creator. --CCC
…….1149 The
great religions of mankind witness, often impressively, to this cosmic and
symbolic meaning of religious rites. The liturgy of the Church presupposes,
integrates and sanctifies elements from creation and human culture, conferring
on them the dignity of signs of grace, of the new creation in Jesus Christ. --CCC
…….1150 Signs
of the covenant. The Chosen People received from God distinctive signs and
symbols that marked its liturgical life. These are no longer solely
celebrations of cosmic cycles and social gestures, but signs of the covenant,
symbols of God's mighty deeds for his people. Among these liturgical signs from
the Old Covenant are circumcision, anointing and consecration of kings and
priests, laying on of hands, sacrifices, and above all the Passover. The Church
sees in these signs a prefiguring of the sacraments of the New Covenant. --CCC
…….1151 Signs
taken up by Christ. In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs
of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. ( compare Luke 8:10),17 He
performs healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic
gestures.( compare John 9:6; Mark 7:33
ff.; Mk 8:22 ff)18 He
gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the
Exodus and the Passover,( compare Luke 9:31; Lk 22:7-20)19 for he himself is the meaning of all these signs. –CCC
…….1152 Sacramental
signs. Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his
Church that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of sanctification. The
sacraments of the Church do not abolish but purify and integrate all the
richness of the signs and symbols of the cosmos and of social life. Further,
they fulfill the types and figures of the Old Covenant, signify and make
actively present the salvation wrought by Christ, and prefigure and anticipate
the glory of heaven. --CCC
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