Catholic Faith Refresher Course

"Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God." (2 Cor. 3:5)

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT

We are beginning an entirely new section in our lessons. This whole section on the Sacraments cannot be understood unless you first understand something about grace. Therefore it is necessary for you to go back to the lesson on grace and study it thoroughly.

Non-Catholics sometimes see a priest administering some of the Sacraments. Non-Catholics think the priest is simply saying some prayers or going through some rites made by the Catholic Church. This is a false idea of the Sacraments as we shall see in this lesson.

A. THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

You have not been put here on earth by Almighty God to grow rich or famous; you have been put here on earth to win God ' s grace and get to heaven. YOU CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN BY YOUR OWN POWER. God tells us how we are to get His grace and thus get to heaven. After we have learned the means by which God gives us His grace, we must use those means.

B. CHRIST DIED TO GIVE US GRACE

Adam lost grace for the whole human race by his sin, original sin. God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bring grace back to the world. Christ died on the cross to bring that grace back to us. The purpose of His death on the cross was to regain grace for mankind.

C. CHRIST GIVES EACH MAN GRACE THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS Christ died to bring every man to heaven. The problem before us in this lesson is: What means did Christ provide to give grace to each individual? He gave us the Sacraments. Sacraments are the things that bring Christ's grace to each individual soul. A Sacrament is an external thing, an external sign, made by Jesus Christ to give grace. It is an external thing. that is something you can see, feel or touch. The pouring of water in Baptism, for example, is something that you can see, feel and touch. This pouring of water of Baptism joined with the words of Baptism gives grace to the soul.

A Sacrament is an external sign that indicates that we are receiving grace. Grace is something that is spiritual. No one can see grace; no one can feel grace. The only way you can be reasonably sure that you have the grace is by receiving the Sacraments. When the priest gives a person Holy Communion, the Holy Communion gives him the grace and on Christ's word assures him that he is getting the grace. Just as an electric light switch in a room tells me that I can illuminate a room if I turn on the switch, so the sacraments tell me that I will get grace if I use them rightly. So when I make use of the Sacrament, the sign of grace, I automatically get grace when I am disposed for it. Just as the light switch will not turn on the light if there is something blocking the wires, so also the Sacrament will not give grace if you put something in the way. For example, if you go up to be baptized only to please your wife in an empty gesture, your intention is bad and you will not get grace; you also commit a sacrilege. A sacrilege is an abuse of a sacred thing.

D. EACH SACRAMENT HAS A DIFFERENT PURPOSE

Each one of the seven Sacraments has a different purpose. Each gives a grace that you can get from no other Sacrament. They accompany a man during his life from the cradle to the grave. There is a Sacrament for every important stage and every big difficulty in your life.

Each Sacrament gives a special grace that you can get from no other Sacrament. If a young man wants to get married, the Sacrament of Holy Orders wouldn't do him any good, because he wants the grace to be a good husband, not to be a good priest. When a man is in danger of death he doesn't receive the Sacrament of Matrimony; he needs the Sacrament meant for those in danger of death, the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

In the following lessons we shall go through each of the Sacraments and explain them to you.

Besides the special grace that each Sacrament gives, namely, the grace needed for the particular state or difficulty in life, each Sacrament also gives an increase of the sharing in the life of God.

E. THE SACRAMENTS ALWAYS GIVE GRACE

The Sacraments automatically give grace. They do not depend upon you or upon the priest who is giving you the Sacrament. They depend only upon Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ made the Sacraments and He made them to give us grace. If you place no obstacles in the way, you automatically get the grace.

F. NON-CATHOLICS ARE CHEATED      People have been receiving Sacraments in the Catholic Church for more than 1900 years. Our Lord made Sacraments to give us grace, to help us through the trials and difficulties of life. Men need the Sacraments desperately. It is most difficult to go through life without them.

Christ died to give you these Sacraments. They are the ordinary means of God's grace. Christ pours out His grace upon the whole world through the Sacraments. Priests and people in persecuted countries die rather than give up the Sacraments.

Perhaps you are trying to lead a good life without the ordinary means of God's grace. Perhaps your married life would have been much different if you had had the Sacrament of Marriage. Perhaps you would be leading a much better life with the help of the Sacrament of Confession; Confession is a Sacrament made by Christ to free you from your sins and get you back on your feet again. It is too bad that many people die every day in hospitals without the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Every Catholic knows that Jesus Christ made this Sacrament to help dying people, yet so many non-Catholics die without it

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW OF THIS LESSON

1. What is a Sacrament?

3. Where did the Sacraments get the power to confer grace?

 2. Who made the Sacraments? 

4. Name the seven Sacraments.

HOW OLD ARE THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS?

One of the principal truths of the seven Sacraments is that they were instituted by Jesus Christ to confer the graces we need. They are essential elements of the New Covenant; they are the channels of grace won for us by the death of Jesus on Calvary .As such, the Sacraments that give supernatural grace are as old as the first ages of Christianity having come from Jesus Himself. While all the ceremonial ritual with which we are familiar was instituted by the Apostles and their successors, the essential rites of each sacrament was given to us by Jesus Himself.

Were there Sacraments in Old Testament times? If we understand the Sacraments as has just been described, then, no, there were no Sacraments before their institution by Jesus Christ. However, if we refer to a sacrament as an outward sign to convey a certain mystery of God's working with men and prefiguring the supernatural Sacraments of Christianity, then, yes there were such natural sacraments in the time of the Prophets.

Circumcision, the baptism of penance by John the Baptist, sin offerings for the forgiveness of men's sins --these and more were necessary rituals of old that the Chosen People were to partake of for eternal salvation. While each of these did not possess the supernatural gifts of grace won by Jesus on the hill of Calvary, they did produce a natural (actual) grace for those of the Old Covenant which, in prefigurement of the Sacraments of the New Law, helped all who received the ability to save their souls.

While those under the Old Law could enjoy the benefits of God's help, they could not receive the supernatural grace to be a child of God, to have sins completely forgiven and to receive the Body and Blood of the Son of God. We have much to be grateful for in having been born in the time that we are.