Church: The Sacrament of God’s Grace

Chapter 6

Sacrament?• VISIBLE sign instituted by God (Christ) to give

invisible grace.• (Sacraments are outward signs of

inward grace, instituted by Christ for our sanctification)

• Jesus is the ultimate sacrament of God• The Church is also considered to be a

sacrament of God.

The 7 Sacraments

INITIATION– Baptism

– Confirmation

– Eucharist

HEALING

– Reconciliation

– Sacrament of the Sick

VOCATION– Marriage

– Holy Orders

Church, legacy of Jesus, work of the Spirit

• Page 107, story of hermit Anthony• Challenge: how to proclaim & put into

practice gospel ethics?– Who can live this type of perfection?– “The Christian ideal has not been

tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

• G.K. Chesterton Chapter 5, What’s Wrong With The World, 1910)

The Church begins to take form• 50 years after crucifixion, disciples gather in many

places• Become known as “christians”

– “break bread together” as taught by Jesus on day after Sabbath

• Not structured yet– Charismatic, wandering prophets / teachers

• Leaders began to organize communities– Help 2nd generation of believers– How to take Jesus’ words, deeds practices,

teachings, moral behaviours & worship– Authority for resolving disputes

The role of the Holy Spirit

• Read Acts 2.41-47 (p. 108)• Holy Spirit: the link connecting Jesus with the first

followers– Those who followed Jesus, experienced the

Resurrection, eyes opened to see & interpret His story

– They baptized, taught, prayed with new followers– Broke bread– Shared possessions– Church begins to take shape guided by the Spirit

Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles• Paul wrote his letters to Christian

communities before the Gospels were written

• He wasn’t originally a follower of Jesus– Persecuted Christians– Saul, Shammaite Pharisee, Christians were

seen as “polluters” of Jewish Law and this stood in the way of Israel’s being free from foreign domination

– See Acts 9.1-10.22 (page 110 text)

Conversion• Change:

–Mind–Heart–Behaviour

• Turning one’s life “upside down”–Making a u-turn

• “Conversion today” p. 112

Jesus was dangerous for Saul• So were the followers of Jesus• They had different agendas

– They didn’t take the law seriously– Didn’t show reverence for the Temple– Proclaimed Jesus as risen from the dead

• How could this be? • The world was in the same rebellion• The pagans hadn’t been defeated

• Saul’s experience of the blinding light Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one of God

• Until Jesus returned again, it was the age of the Church• Paul became convinced that the Gentiles were part of

fulfilling God’s promise

The Church develops a self-understanding: The Trinity in history

• God played a role in the life of the early Church– Holy Spirit’s descent on Pentecost– Christian living = “living in the Spirit” – Connection to each other “Body of

Christ”• Purpose of the Church?

– To reflect a communion of love & life similar to God’s (i.e. Trinity see note page 113, CCC #1997)

God seems to revel in diversity!• E.g. the growing diversity of different

peoples– Call of Abraham &, Sarah: restoring

creation after sin of Adam– Call of Moses to create a new nation– Call of prophets– The mission of Jesus

Matthew 23.37

• “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

John 17.25-26“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Church: instrument of God’s love / grace

• Church where the love of God for Jesus is made visible

• Church reaches out: – Poor – Sick

• Church: a sacrament of God’s activity of gathering, a sign of God’s love in the world

The Spirit’s Mission• To complete what the Father

sent Jesus to do:• To show the world how

great God’s love is• John 13.1 “Having loved his

own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”