{"id":27183,"date":"2014-09-04T11:34:48","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T16:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=27183"},"modified":"2014-09-04T11:58:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T16:58:56","slug":"the-necessity-of-the-sacraments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/04\/the-necessity-of-the-sacraments\/","title":{"rendered":"The Necessity of the Sacraments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Backing itself up by reference to the Council of Trent, the current Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> declares in no. 1129 that \u201cthe Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation<\/em>\u201d (italics in original). The Catechism<\/em> elaborates on the necessity of baptism in no. 1257:<\/p>\n

The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are \u201creborn of water and the Spirit.\u201d God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments<\/em>. [italics in original]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For Pray Tell<\/em> readers who teach (whether at a college \/ university, a high school, as part of a catechetical program or just as part of your ministry to the Church), how do you present the teaching on the necessity of the sacraments?<\/p>\n

For my part, I talk to my undergraduates about the act of kissing someone you love. When two people love each other, at some point they typically kiss. Parents kiss children. Children kiss parents. Lovers kiss each other. The kiss is thus an expression of a love that already<\/em> exists. In some cultures, of course, a kiss on both cheeks is at times a matter of courtesy so let\u2019s restrict ourselves to romantic kisses: these kisses presuppose love. Likewise, sacraments presuppose faith. Sacraments presuppose that participants have a relationship of trust and love with God.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, romantic love requires kisses. It requires hand-holding, chocolates, flowers, etc. As Music in Catholic Worship<\/em> reminds in no. 4: \u201cPeople in love makes signs of love, not only to express their love but also to deepen it.\u00a0 Love never expressed dies.\u201d A relationship between two lovers that is devoid of kisses and other tender actions is evacuated of its meaning as a love relationship. Likewise, faith requires sacraments. Sacraments are gestures that seal, heal, or renew the relationship of trust and love with God.<\/p>\n

Importantly, sacraments are properly ecclesial acts. That is, sacraments presuppose not only a relationship of trust and love with God but also a connection with others who have such a relationship with God. Sacraments are not merely about my<\/em> relationship with God. Indeed, they are primarily about our<\/em> relationship with God and hence our relationships with each other. These relationships, if they are not to be empty of meaning, require sacramental celebration. If lovers never engage in expressions of love, their love dies. If the Church ceases to celebrate sacraments, the Church ceases to be Church.<\/p>\n

Yet God is not bound to the sacraments.<\/p>\n

In addition to the baptismal mandates in the gospels (eg., John 3:5 and Matthew 28:19-20), we have the sheep and the goats of Matthew 25 with no mention of baptism. Without getting into a full-blown discussion of Karl Rahner\u2019s \u201canonymous Christian,\u201d I talk to my students about the importance of following one\u2019s conscience. Those persons who judge that they are not in love with God (perhaps because they judge that no God exists), can still love those whom God loves by promoting compassion and justice in the world. Such love is not Christian in the full sense of the word \u201cChristian,\u201d but it is still love for God. If that love becomes aware of itself as love for the God of Jesus Christ, then<\/em> the necessity of sacraments kicks in. In any case, it is a question of following the dictates of one\u2019s conscience.<\/p>\n

So, how do you handle the necessity of the sacraments?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Pray Tell<\/i> readers who teach (whether at a college\/university, a high school, as part of a catechetical program or just as part of your ministry to the Church), how do you present the teaching on the necessity of the sacraments?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sacramental-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Necessity of the Sacraments - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/04\/the-necessity-of-the-sacraments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Necessity of the Sacraments - 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