First, the awakening of
faith; then the Sacrament
YOUCAT Catechism +
Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 177
Ave Maria series
177 Why is faith a
prerequisite for the sacraments?
Sacraments are not magic.
A sacrament can be effective only if one understands and accepts it in
faith. Sacraments not only presuppose
faith, they also strengthen it and give expression to it. [1122-1126]
The Gutenberg Bible. This is the Lenox Copy of the first printed
bible, New York Public Library, 2009. …..177
Jesus commissioned the apostles first to make people
disciples through their preaching, in other words, to awaken their faith and
only then to baptize them. There are two
things, therefore, that we receive from the Church: faith and the
sacraments. Even today someone becomes a
Christian, not through a mere ritual or by being listed in a register, but
rather through acceptance of the true faith.
We receive the true faith from the Church. She vouches for it. Because the Church’s faith is expressed in
the liturgy, no sacramental ritual can be changed or manipulated at the discretion
of an individual minister or a congregation.
“As one candle is lit from the flame of another, so is faith
kindled by faith.” Romano Guardini (1885-1968)
[1122-1126]
THE SACRAMENTS OF FAITH
1122 Christ sent his apostles so that "repentance and forgiveness
of sins should be preached in his name to all nations."( Luke 24:47)41 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit."(Matthew 28:19)42 The mission to baptize, and so the
sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the
sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the faith which is assent to this word:
The People of God is formed into one in the first place by the
Word of the living God. . . . The preaching of the Word is required
for the sacramental ministry itself, since the sacraments are sacraments of
faith, drawing their origin and nourishment from the Word.( Presbyterorum
ordinis 4 §§ 1,2)43 --Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
1123 "The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men,
to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because
they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words
and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are
called 'sacraments of faith.'" (Sacrosanctum
Concilium 59)44 --CCC
1124 The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer
who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she
confesses the faith received from the apostles - whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex credendi (or: legem credendi lex statuat
supplicandi, according to Prosper of Aquitaine [5th cent.]). ( Eucharistic prayer. 8)45 The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church
believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living
Tradition. (compare Dei Verbum 8)46 --CCC
1125 For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or
manipulated at the will of the minister or the community. Even the supreme
authority in the Church may not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the
obedience of faith and with religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy. –CCC
1126 Likewise, since the sacraments express and develop the
communion of faith in the Church, the lex
orandi is one of the
essential criteria of the dialogue that seeks to restore the unity of Christians.
(compare Unitatis
redintegratio 2;
15)47 --CCC
JT Liturgy
Bible
No comments:
Post a Comment