Sacraments
What are the Sacraments?
“An outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.”
The Sacraments are Christ’s own gift that provide us with his grace and are fundamental to the Catholic faith. Without the Sacraments, Catholicism holds little significance. They are given to us by God so that we can:
- Believe the truths of God’s faith
- Live according to His moral code
- Grow in His gift of divine life
Since God’s grace is so often invisible, Christ has given us the Sacraments as a visible sign of God’s invisible grace.
The Catholic Church has 7 Sacraments
Why should we care about the Sacraments?
Each Sacrament has a particular purpose, and each purpose provides healing for a particular part of our soul. For example, confession heals our relationship with God after having broken it by committing a mortal sin and prepares us to receive the Eucharist.
Although each Sacrament provides different healing for our soul, we always approach each Sacrament in the same way – through utter humility. Each Sacrament has a special nourishment or ‘grace’ attached to it which, once received in the proper circumstance, provides medicine to our soul. Without this spiritual medicine, our soul does what you might expect it to do – it gets sick. This is why it is so important that the Sacraments are taken seriously, the same way we take medicine seriously when it is prescribed by our doctor.
This spiritual medicine helps to heal our relationship with God which we have damaged through our own bad choices while encouraging a closer bond with God through interior reflection and humility.
Click on each Sacrament above to get a better understanding of each one individually.