The Church encourages Catholics to receive the sacraments often and with great faith and eagerness because Christ instituted the sacraments to nourish Christian life. Christ Himself made the sacraments the instruments through which He gives His grace to us. This is what we mean when we say that Christ instituted the sacraments. There are references in the Bible to Christ’s …
Jesus instituted the sacraments to (1) sanctify mankind, (2) build up the Church, His Mystical Body, (3) render worship to God, and (4) instruct. 1. Jesus instituted the sacraments to sanctify mankind. God uses the sacraments as the ordinary channels to impart His grace; therefore, they are necessary to keep and nourish the life of grace in our souls. St. …
The sacraments are referred to as actions of Christ because (1) by means of them, Christ gives His Spirit to all who believe in Him, and (2) it is from Christ that the sacraments receive the power to make men holy. 1. Sacraments are called actions of Christ because, by means of them, Christ gives His Spirit to all who …
The sacraments reveal that (1) God desires to make mankind holy, and that (2) mankind desires to receive this holiness. In this way the sacraments give us God’s grace. 1. The sacraments reveal that God desires to make mankind holy. The sacraments are sensible signs, instituted by Jesus Christ to signify and give His gifts of grace. God’s intention to …
The Church teaches that sacraments are sensible signs, given to us by Jesus Christ, through which He communicates invisible grace and inward sanctification to our souls. When we receive the sacraments, we encounter the Person of Christ. The Seven Sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Order and Matrimony. The sacraments are outward signs of both …
The Church has been given the sacraments, which Christ instituted, as the special means of continuing Christ’s work on earth. The sacraments are special actions of the Holy Spirit in the Church, through which we encounter the person of Christ, experience His love, and receive His grace.