Sacraments

Understanding Sacraments

  • Before Jesus returned to heaven, he gave us seven special sacraments so we can continue to see and feel him and God’s grace. These sacraments change us and make us holy. If we are open to them, they give us super powers to help us change the world.
  • God loves us... a lot! One way God shows that love is by giving us a special gift called grace, over and over. We don’t have to do anything to earn or deserve it. Sacraments are visible signs of God’s invisible grace.
  • Sacraments are signs of God’s grace, which flows through all of us. This kind of saving grace is necessary for our salvation and for us to experience friendship with God.
  • Remember that you are a kind of sacrament to your child. Your child experiences God’s love through you. You are a sign of God’s love, forgiveness, generosity, and mercy, and one of the main ways that they learn that God is like this.

Baptism

  • Baptism starts our Christian life. It makes us children of God and part of the Church (the Body of Christ).
  • This sacrament shows us God's mercy, grace, and love by forgiving all sins.
  • Baptism is a washing and a dying that recreates us. The old self dies and a new self is born.
  • Baptism makes a person part of the God's family. It is also a baptism into the teachings of Christ: forgiveness, generosity, a heart for the poor and vulnerable, and a commitment to living our lives directed toward God.
  • Baptism is called a seal, because it is a permanent act that can never be repeated.
  • Baptism is called enlightenment because it radiates the light of Christ within us.

Eucharist

  • Eucharist feeds us as we become more like Christ. We can receive it every week or even every day. It helps us remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us. In it, we receive Jesus’ Body and Blood.
  • Here are the important steps we should take each time before we receive the Lord in Communion.
    • First, follow an examination of conscience to review how you have turned away from God.
    • If you have sinned mortally (very seriously), you must receive forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Communion.
    • Fast from food and drink for at least one hour before receiving Communion (not counting water or medicine).
    • Pray in preparation for Mass and receiving Eucharist.

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Reconciliation

  • No one is perfect, and we all sometimes sin. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (or Confession) gives us the opportunity to heal our relationship with God and others.
    • Like Baptism, Reconciliation whows us God's abundant mercy, forgiveness, and healing power.
    • This sacrament is an important part of helping us return to a path of holiness, so we can again follow Jesus.

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Recognize that we are all sinners, and that the Lord, in his abundant mercy, continues to forgive us and heal us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and that this allows us to continue on our journey of holy living.