Why Sacraments Matter

Blog 1 Why Sacraments Matter

When catechumens begin their formation in the Catholic faith, two common questions often arise: Do I really need the Sacraments? Can’t I encounter God on my own without the rites of the church? Before delving into these important questions, I want to quote a favorite passage of scripture that has helped me through challenging times in my life and which I believe helps to illustrate the importance of receiving Christ’s grace through the sacraments.

“Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

I must confess that my initial attraction to this scriptural passage was my belief that I would find comfort in Jesus, especially in challenging times.  I never seriously considered what Christ meant when He said, “take My yoke upon you and learn from Me”. 

The Oxford dictionary defines a yoke as, “a wooden cross piece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull”. The yoke allows the animals to walk side-by-side and effectively allows each of them to equally carry their load. Suddenly Matthew 11:28-30 took on a whole new meaning: Christ wants me to walk alongside Him to help ease my burden. This is why Christ instituted the sacraments; he invites us to walk beside Him on our life journey and help direct us towards Heaven. The sacraments help us on this journey with Christ.

What are sacraments?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines sacraments as, “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). They depend upon signs and symbols to convey their sacredness, such as water at Baptism and oil for Confirmation. 

In Josef Pieper’s book, In Search of the Sacred, he defines sacred as “that specific dignity that stands out in the daily flow of an indifferent reality, which interrupts the routine, and explicitly sets itself apart from the ordinary—a dignity entitled to special forms of respect on the part of man” (Pieper,14). Pieper goes on to ask, “What constitutes the special and separated character of the sacred and in what positive reality the sacred itself consists” (Pieper, 15)?

To fully understand the notion of sacredness, one must also understand the concept of desacralization. On the one hand, desacralization means the removal of sacred qualities, which has occurred in our increasingly secular world where man sees himself as an autonomous spirit who constructs himself out of his own decision-making ability and is a product of his own choices (Ratzinger, "The Sacramental Foundation of Christian Existence", 165). There is no consideration of a higher power. If man were truly an autonomous being, then sacraments would be meaningless.  Additionally, with the rise of technocratic  thinking (man’s increasing dependence on technology and away from spirituality), the notion of the sacred can appear to be a magical-mystical notion; a relic from the past (Ratzinger, 155). On the other hand, Pieper mentions a theological argument that Christ has sanctified the totality of the world, so everything is sacred (Ratzinger,16). However, if everything is sacred, then nothing is sacred, too, and  the notion of sacredness loses its meaning. Importantly, however, Pieper also notes that within the realm of sacred, the sacred action can claim precedence and a higher importance (Pieper, 25). He goes on to explain that, “Something is called sacred because of its relation to the act of public worship” (Pieper, 25). And sacraments are sacred because they fit this description. But do humans approach the sacraments with the reverence they deserve?

 Ratzinger observes societal forces that seem to minimize the idea of sacredness. Importantly however, he believes  humans live in a world where they seek meaning, and need to understand themselves connected to a social history. He used the example of a meal, which is both a biological event but has a social component when a meal is shared with others. Through the shared meal, man can understand that things are more than just things; “they are signs whose meanings extend beyond their immediate sensorial power”(Ratzinger, 158);  a kind of intrinsic meaning, a gift that occurs during a meal shared. In community, there is a recognition that humans do not depend merely on themselves, but there is something greater than itself (Ratzinger, 159). And that something else is God. The sacraments help to keep us focused on God and our journey toward heaven.

“For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

We are all familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, and the Fall. Because of the Fall,  humans were born with Original sin, which is washed away in Baptism. But we are still subject to concupiscence; the temptation to sin by turning away from God our heavenly Father. Instead, we worship the gods of power, money, fame, and engage in other destructive vices. So God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to “show us how to live” . And the sacraments help, “insert man into the historical that comes from Christ” (Ratzinger, 163). They, “lead man into the, “unity with God that is his eternal future" (Ratzinger, 163). They express the, “vertical dimension of human existence; the call of God that makes a man human in the first place” (Ratzinger, 164). Importantly, they also point, “beyond that to the horizontal dimension of the history of faith that comes to us from Christ” (Ratzinger, 164).

So, in summary, in answer to the question, “Do I need the sacraments?” The answer is a resounding "yes". As we yoke ourselves with Christ, He becomes the “guide rope of salvation that pulls us to the shores of God’s eternity” (Ratzinger 164). And to answer the second question, “Can I encounter God on my own without the rites of the church?” The answer, again, is "yes". However, by receiving Christ’s grace through the sacraments, we are able to develop a stronger and more enduring relationship with Him.

~Kate Jacullo