Day 154: Sacraments of Eternal Life (1130-1134)

• It’s Day 154!!

• THE SACRAMENTS OF ETERNAL LIFE

• They bring HEAVEN to EARTH

• RIGHT NOW!!

• They are also fulfilled in the KINGDOM OF GOD

• They are also fulfilled IN ETERNITY

• This is where Heaven and Earth KISS

• This is where time and Eternity TOUCH

• We experience this right now whenever we encounter the Lord in the Mass and also in the Sacraments

• They are also a FORESHADOWING of the Eternal Life we are going to share with our Lord

• So we keep praying in that

• Every one of the Sacraments calls upon the Lord and asks the Lord to LET HIS KINGDOM COME

• We ask the Spirit and the Bride to say COME, LORD JESUS

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we praise you and we glorify you. We thank you so much. We thank you for the gift of your Son. We thank you for the gift of life. Lord God, often we can overlook the fact that you have given us life. You have called us out of nothing and you have made us your children. And so often we can overlook the fact that you gave us new life today. You originally gave us a life that we did not deserve and you sustain this life that we don’t deserve. We thank you because this life is good, even in the Valley of Tears this life is good. Because even in the midst of this Valley of Tears you come and meet us with your Grace. You come and meet us with your Word. You share with us your very life. And even when we carry heavy burdens, Lord God, you have not abandoned us and you will not abandon us. You are here. And so we ask you please come, Lord Jesus. Come and be with your people. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Father. So that you may be All in All. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• The Lord’s Paschal Mystery is made PRESENT to us through the SACRAMENTS

• We are presented to them

• They are POWERFUL

• They DO SOMETHING

• Paragraph 1130 says, “The Church celebrates the mystery of the Lord ‘until he comes,’...The Liturgy shares in Christ’s desire: ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you…until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ In the sacraments of Christ the Church already receives the guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting life, while ‘awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.”

• We SHARE in that Grace

• We SHARE in what Jesus Christ has established for us and won for us

• We participate in what Jesus has done for us

• At the same time, there is more to be entered into

• There is a veil that still is to be removed

• The Sacraments mediate the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to us

• The day will come in Heaven, in the Beatific Vision, when there is NO MEDIATION

• We will see the Lord AS HE IS, FACE TO FACE

• We will get to behold the Lord AS HE IS, FACE TO FACE

• Right now He comes to us through signs and Sacraments

• Paragraph 1131 says, “The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament.”

•  There is a way of approaching the Sacraments that reduces them to mere ritual

• You go to Mass and you stand and sit and kneel

• People say certain words and it’s all just ritual

• BUT…

• These VISIBLE RITES that are celebrated in the Sacraments signify something and ALSO HAVE POWER

• As often as we go to Confession, the priest says the same words of absolution every time

• In our contrition, and the words of absolution, it is not just an empty ritual

• It is a POWERFUL EFFICACIOUS RITUAL that makes present the graces that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross

• The graces of FORGIVENESS

• The graces of MERCY

• The graces of RECONCILIATION WITH GOD HIMSELF

• THIS IS SO POWERFUL!!

• EFFICACIOUS IS THE RIGHT WORD!!

• The Sacraments are NOT mere symbols

• St. Thomas Aquinas says in Paragraph 1130, “‘Therefore a sacrament is a sign that commemorates what precedes it-Christ’s Passion; demonstrates what is accomplished in us through Christ’s Passion-grace’ and prefigures what the Passion pledges to us-future glory.”

• We talked about this at the end of PILLAR 1: THE CREED

• All of this is oriented not only to give us life here on this earth, to bring us into relationship with the Lord on this earth

• BUT…

• Because the Lord wants to bring us into His Glory and His presence in Heaven

• This is what the Holy Spirit does

• This is what the Sacraments are doing

• They are giving us the grace that Jesus Christ won for us right now so that we can also be more and more drawn into His life now and ultimately, into His life in Eternity

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph1132 says, “The Church celebrates the sacraments as a priestly community structured by the baptismal priesthood and the priesthood of ordained ministers.”

• We are a PRIESTLY PEOPLE

• What do priests do?

• PRIESTS OFFER SACRIFICE

• THIS IS THE KEY THING!!

• That is the PRIMARY ROLE of the priesthood

• If you are Baptized you participate in the Baptismal priesthood united with the ordained priesthood

• It all comes from Jesus Christ, the great High Priest

• If you have been Baptized you have brought into a share in Christ’s Priesthood

• This means you have been given a share of the ability to offer up the great Sacrifice to the Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit

• KEEP THIS IN MIND!!

• You are not simply learning about something that someone else does

• You are also learning how you are being called to enter into this

• How are you being called into this full and active participation in the Liturgy

• You have been Baptized and anointed a KINGDOM PRIEST

• Baptismal priesthood is what you share in

• If there is anything Catholics miss, IT IS THIS when it comes to the Sacraments and the Mass

• There are so many Catholics who get it

• JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST AT EVERY MASS!!

• IT IS AMAZING!!

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• IT BLOWS THE MIND!!

• BUT…

• They forget that when they show up to Mass they are not simply there to get the Eucharist

• They are there to OFFER THE EUCHARIST

• They are there to OFFER THE BODY, BLOOD, SOUL, AND DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR TO THE FATHER IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• KEEP THAT IN MIND!!

• Paragraph 1133 says, “The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts.”

• Here we are learning about the Catechism and what we believe and how we worship

• We always need to remember to say, “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.”

• Let that Word of God be an ever-present, active, real part of your life

• We need to meditate on God’s Word ON A REGULAR BASIS

• THIS IS IMPORTANT!!

• We need to meditate on the teachings of the Church

• We can enter more deeply into the Sacramental life of the Church and the moral life when we listen to the Word of God attentively and receive that with faith

• GIVE GOD YOUR AMEN!!

• GIVE GOD YOUR COMMITMENT!!

• THIS IS AWESOME!!

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• If this is YOUR Day 154 way after Day 154 of the year, NO WORRIES!! (Yeah…I’m a bit behind myself haha 😉) 

• ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU KEEP PRESSING PLAY!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!