Sacraments

Human beings have a special bit of God in them that the rest of creation does not possess. People, therefore, make God present in the world in a special way.

Jesus makes God uniquely present.

Jesus is the fullness of God’s presence in the world. “Whoever has seen me,” said Jesus, “has seen the Father” (John 14:9) Therefore, Jesus makes God present in a way that surpasses all other ways.

The Church makes Jesus present.

The exact nature of Jesus’ presence in the world - an active presence, not passive - remained a mystery to his followers until Pentecost. (A word from the Greek meaning “fifty” [days]) The Holy Spirit came and led them to the fullness of truth (John 16:13). The people of God, Jesus’ followers, are the Church.

Jesus acts through his Church.

Certain actions are called sacraments.

The word sacrament evolved over time with Jesus’ followers. It is a word that comes from sacramentum – a word meaning ‘oath’, or initiation process, like the one Roman recruits used for entry into service.

A sacrament is more than a sign, or symbol. A Sacrament point beyond itself and indicates the presence of the reality it points to.