“The person of the priest is, for (Jesus),
only a screen.”
YOUCAT Catechism +
Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 178
Ave Maria series
178 If a sacrament is
administered by someone who is unworthy, does it fail to have its effect?
No. The sacraments
are effective on the basis of the sacramental action that is carried out (ex
opera operato), in other words, independently of the moral conduct or spiritual
outlook of the minister. It is enough
for him to intend to do what the Church does.
[1127-1128, 1131]
The following three
paragraphs are taken from the “Diary” of
Saint Faustina. …..178
Jesus said to Saint Faustina: “Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that
from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything
would already be lost, it is not so with God.
The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take
advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! (Diary 1448).”
Jesus said to Saint Faustina: “When you go to confession, to this fountain
of mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down
upon your soul (Diary, 1602). In the
Tribunal of Mercy (the Sacrament of Reconciliation)...the greatest miracles
take place and are incessantly repeated (Diary 1448). Here the misery of the soul meets the God of
Mercy (Diary 1602).”
And again, Jesus said to Saint
Faustina: “Come with faith to the feet
of My representative (Diary 1448). I
Myself am waiting there for you. I am
only hidden by the priest...I Myself act in your soul (Diary 1602). Make your confession before Me. The person of
the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is
that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I
will fill it with My light (Diary 1725)”
By all
means, ministers of the sacraments ought to live an exemplary life. But the sacraments take effect, not because
of the holiness of their ministers, but rather because Christ himself is at
work in them. In any case, he respects
our freedom when we receive the sacraments.
That is why they have a positive effect only if we rely on Christ.
[1127-1128, 1131]
THE SACRAMENTS OF SALVATION
1127 Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the
grace that they signify. (compare Council of Trent
(1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1605; DS 1606)48 They are efficacious because in them Christ himself
is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to
communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears
the prayer of his Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament,
expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself
everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life
whatever is subjected to his power. –Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
1128 This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation (compare Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1608)
49 that the sacraments
act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of
the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of
Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not
wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by
the power of God." (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 68,8) 50 From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in
accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit
acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister.
Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of
the one who receives them. –CCC
IN BRIEF
1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted
by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.
The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make
present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who
receive them with the required dispositions. –CCC
Saint Faustina
Divine
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