A sacrament has that unique ability to take a redemptive act of the past and bring it into our present experience (Tim Kruse).
Look not on our Sins….
Baptism, Eucharist, and Reconciliation — to cite only three examples — each in their own way, communicate to the sacramental participant, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. An evangelical Catholic has discovered in the Sacramental life of the Church, a perennial source of supernatural life. Far from being mere “dead rituals,” the Church’s sacraments and liturgies are, in fact, capable of raising us above the limitations of our own private worship — limitations such as weakness of faith or emotional discouragement. It is a true gift to be carried along, so to speak, by the Church’s liturgy — by her faith. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church…. What a joy to know the profundity and beauty of these sacred and grace-filled rites.
Source and Summit
Now, it cannot be denied, that participation in the Church’s sacraments can be perfunctory or even superstitious: perfunctory, if there is no attempted understanding or corresponding sense of peronal devotion; superstitious, if there is an exclusive reliance upon them without repentance and discipleship.
Notwithstanding these and other dangers of vain ritualism, we observe that many others have found in the Sacramental life of the Church, grace to lead lives of extraordinary sanctity. One needn’t read far in hagiography to find innumerable examples that demonstrate the close connection often found between the sanctity of Saints and their rich sacramental life. While all of the sacraments, and some in particular, such as the Sacrament of Reconciliation, factor in as significant sources of spiritual renewal, the Eucharist is, for the evangelical Catholic, “the source and summit of the spiritual life” (Lumen Gentium, 11), sustenance for the journey, gift of finest wheat, precious communion with their Lord. Seeking always to submerge themselves in the sacred rites of the Church, they desire to be with their Lord in this intimate, but also communal, way.
The Saints and the Sacraments
Volumes have been written on the Sacraments, and the Eucharist in particular, which engenders such devotion and love amongs the followers of Jesus. Consider the consistent testimony of those, like St. Teresa of Avila or Catherine of Sienna, to the supernatural graces communicated in the Eucharist. The following prayer of St. Thomas captures well both the devotion many Catholics feel toward the Eucharist as well as their convictions concerning the sacrament as a means to sanctification.
Lord…in the kindness of your mercy, you have fed me with the precious body and blood of your Son….I pray that this Holy communion may bring me…forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to you, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with you…Amen
Blessed are those to whom the Lord has revealed the treasures of having both a strong private devotional life as well as a rich liturgical and sacramental life!
Read an overview of the Ten Wellsprings of Grace for an Evangelical Catholic Spirituality.