What are the Sacraments

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Catholic Doctrine , both by non-Catholics as well as by Catholics themselves is the Sacraments. The Sacraments are Central to Catholic theology. Failure to understand them is failure to understand Catholicism. Many of those who reject Catholic teaching on the sacraments often ague against a false understanding of them and are thus working against a straw man, in many cases in good faith wishing to correct what they perceive to be Catholic errors and in some cases by people who should know better. Examples; Here, here, here, and here. This post will (in the feeble words of the author) attempt to explain what the sacraments are and what they are not.

A Sacrament is in a essence a visible, outward sign of a spiritual reality. In essence what the we see taking place with our senses is actualytaking place in the spiritual realm. In baptism for example, Water which represents cleansing, actually cleans the soul of the individual of original sin. The following web sites give similar definitions of the word Sacrament; Here and here.

Humans are unique creatures in all of creation. Creation is comprised (As far as what has been revealed to us) by three distinct living being, the spiritual in the form of Angels, who have spiritual but not corporal natures, and corporal as in the from of animals and plant who have corporal but not spiritual natures, Humans are unique in that they are created with both spiritual and corporal natures. Of these beings the Angelic and the Humans are made to worship God. The Angels worship God within their nature and worship with their whole being which is spiritual. Humans are made worship God with their whole being as well. So how can a human creature who is both flesh and spirit worship God using their whole nature? This is where the Sacraments come in. In the old testament there was no sacramental system, so the Jews worshiped God using symbols such as the Temple, Sacrifice, Images (yes the Jews used Images in their worship, this is for another post) etc. Jesus Came to show us a more perfect form of Worship, first by becoming flesh himself and showing us God though our senses. Jesus usually used matter to perform his miracles. He would for example make mud by spitting on dirt and healing the blind. He would show a visible act of Worship to the Father and raise the dead. The lady with the blood disease showed her faith by touching the garment Jesus wore. Jesus made it a point of going down to the Jordan and being baptized by John. Jesus turned bread into his body and blood and commanded his apostles to forgive and retain sins. So by becoming flesh and leaving a visible church with visible means of showing us God's grace Jesus instituted a Sacramental Church. Indeed as Jesus is seen as a sacrament of the Father by making God visible, the Church is seen as a sacrament of Jesus as it is her mission to make Jesus visible in the form of his body, both in the sacrament and in her body of believers. It must be noted
that all of the Sacraments have supporting passages in scripture. I will deal with each sacrament individually in other posts.

There are seven Sacraments;

Baptism

Confirmation

Reconciliation

Eucharist

Matrimony

Holy Order

Anointing of the Sick

Each sacrament corresponds with a certain aspect or stage in human life. The fact that there are seven is also significant. In scripture the number seven corresponded with the fullness of what is being spoken off. Thus there are seven days in a week and on the fullness of Creation God Rested.

In essence the Sacraments are gift from God that shows us his grace. They are not means of earning salvation (as some non-Catholics say) since they have no use to us unless we have faith, they are simply there for us, to aide us in worshipping with our whole being, to see and feel Gods grace flowing into our lives, keeping us feed in our journey in this life while at the same time showing us glimpses of the next.