SACRAMENTS

BASIC R.C. BELIEF

Divinely appointed functions which effect an increase of supernatural life

in the Roman Catholic whenever he approaches them with the proper

disposition. The life is nourished by Divine Grace; normal channels are

prayer and the sacraments.

Jesus Christ initiated all the Sacraments. They are Baptism,

Confirmation, Holy Communion, Penance, Holy Orders, Matrimony and Extreme

Unction. Several have been modernized since Vatican II.

From THE SACRAMENTS, Rev. Connell, C.SS.R., page 1, "an external sign of

grace, instituted by God, for the sanctification of mankind."

Ibid., page 5. "the seven ceremonies we have enumerated were regarded

from the first days of Christianity as divinely established signs of

grace."

Ibid., page 10,11. "This means that during His life of three and thirty

years on earth He designated these seven external rites as means of grace,

to be used by the faithful until the end of time. . . The New Testament

does not furnish convincing arguments that the other sacraments were

instituted by Christ in person (except Baptism, Eucharist and Penance).

However, there is no proof that He was not the author . . . Moreover, there

are abundant proofs from early Tradition that Christ personally instituted

all seven sacraments."

Ibid., page 12ff. "We can say that the sacraments are the arteries of

this Mystical Body, through which the life-giving Blood of the Saviour is

transmitted. . . The Church seems actually to have modified matter and form

of some sacraments in the course of time. For example, the imposition of

hands used to be the entire matter of Confirmation; while nowadays the

anointing of the brow with chrism is also essential to this sacrament."

From CHRIST'S SEVEN SACRAMENTS, Knights of Columbus, page 3. "If our own

dispositions are deficient, then we diminish the work of Christ in the

sacraments. Christ desires our free and willing response; and our reception

of grace is in keeping with the degree of our love."

CHRISTIAN COMMENT

There is no scriptural evidence that Jesus instituted any of the

Sacraments. They all need human administration (John 1:13), and the

emphasis is on the form and the matter of the sacrament, not on Jesus

Christ. Holy Communion and Penance are repeated throughout life, proving

that at no point is either capable of giving eternal life.

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