sacraments...
Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important
moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing
and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain
resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of
the spiritual life.
The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation,
and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the
grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development,
and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism,
strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the
Eucharist the food of eternal life."
By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus
receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and
advance toward the perfection of charity Sacramental Celebrations and Preparations
RCIA:
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
Open to any non-Catholic interested in learning about the Catholic
Church or any Catholic who has not received Eucharist or Confirmation.
Consists of a process of expectation. It moves from an inquiry period
of pre-Catechumenate to the Catechumenate, culminating in reception
of the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. Instruction
begins in September of each year.
Baptism
Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians,
including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic
Church: "For men who believe in Christ and have been properly
baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic
Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into
Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and
with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the
Catholic Church."Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental
bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn."
Celebrated monthly on the last Sunday at 1 and 2:30pm. Parents
are required to attend a Baptism Catechesis program on the first
Tuesday of the Month.
Confirmation
Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together
constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose
unity must be safeguarded.
It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament
of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.
For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more
perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength
of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ,
more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and
deed."
First Communion
The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have
been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and
configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with
the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the
Eucharist.
"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior
instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This
he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout
the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved
Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a
sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal
banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"
Contact the Director of Religious Education for First Communion Dates.
Reconciliation
Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion
with him.
At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this
reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation
with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically
by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of
himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive
sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are
forgiven."Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives
this power to men to exercise in his name.
Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole
Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and
reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood.
But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the
apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation."
The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God
making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled
to God."
During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made
plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners
into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated
or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that
Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in
an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the
bosom of the People of God.
Saturdays 3:30 p.m. or by appointment. The Reconciliation room
is in front of the church near the Eucharistic Chapel.
Marriage
"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish
between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its
nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation
and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons
has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."
The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one
another is sealed by God himself. From their covenant arises "an
institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes
of society." The covenant between the spouses is integrated
into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught
up into divine love."
Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such
a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized
persons can never be dissolved. This bond, which results from the
free human act of the spouses and their consummation of the marriage,
is a reality, henceforth irrevocable, and gives rise to a covenant
guaranteed by God's fidelity. The Church does not have the power
to contravene this disposition of divine wisdom.
Please call the office at least six months in advance to schedule
an interview.
Sacraments for the Sick
The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments
there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being
tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick:
This sacred anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ
our Lord as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament. It
is alluded to indeed by Mark, but is recommended to the faithful
and promulgated by James the apostle and brother of the Lord
The Anointing of the Sick "is not a sacrament for those only
who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful
begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting
time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived."
Like all the sacraments the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical
and communal celebration, whether it takes place in the family home,
a hospital or church, for a single sick person or a whole group
of sick persons. It is very fitting to celebrate it within the Eucharist,
the memorial of the Lord's Passover. If circumstances suggest it,
the celebration of the sacrament can be preceded by the sacrament
of Penance and followed by the sacrament of the Eucharist. As the
sacrament of Christ's Passover the Eucharist should always be the
last sacrament of the earthly journey, the "viaticum"
for "passing over" to eternal life.
Please call the office to inform us if someone is ill or homebound
and in need of the sacraments or a visit by one of our Extraordinay Ministers
of the Eucharist.
Holy Orders
Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian
initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ's disciples,
a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world.
They confer the graces needed for the life according to the Spirit
during this life as pilgrims on the march towards the homeland.
Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards
the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal
salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They
confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up
the People of God.
Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and
Confirmation1 for the common priesthood of all the faithful can
receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament
of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ's name "to feed the
Church by the word and grace of God."2 On their part, "Christian
spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties
and dignity of their state by a special sacrament."
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