The Catechism defines sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as a sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.”
The Catechism goes on to define grace as “God’s favor towards us, unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs our hearts and strengthens our wills,” (BCP,pp. 857-8).
The third article of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral holds up the two great sacraments of the Church, Baptism and Eucharist, as essential elements in defining who we are as God’s people and how we practice our life of faith and belief.
While we focus our attention this month on the two sacraments instituted by our Lord (dominical sacraments), we also note that sacraments, defined as outward and visible signs of God’s grace,
cannot be reduced to any specific number.
The third article of the Quadrilateral, however, focuses our attention on the two great dominical sacraments of the Church that help us to understand further, who we are as Christians and members of the Episcopal Church.
Holy Baptism
Baptism, with the outward and visible sign of water, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the primary rite of initiation, incorporation and adoption in the Church. The water of Baptism accomplishes many things in this rite of inclusion. The water of Baptism cleanses, restores, renews and serves as a symbol of drowning and rising to new life.
The grace conveyed in Baptism is the union with Christ in His death and resurrection; and birth into God’s family, the Church.
Forgiveness of sins is conveyed. The gift of the Holy Spirit is given through the bestowal of the Christian name and the mark of the cross as the sign and seal of ones incorporation into the Christian family.
Baptism is a communal act. In the sacrament, the Church is presupposed as prior to and essential for Baptism. “Private baptism” is a contradiction in terms. In Baptism one is adopted into the body of Christ, the Church.
In this primary rite of adoption or inclusion, members of the Church take certain vows and responsibilities to support the new member of the Christian family as he/she is made a member of the family through baptism.
Love leads to baptism
Infants are baptized so that they can share in the larger covenant family that we call the Church. Stated simply, we baptize our babies because we love them. We not only clothe, educate, feed and provide nurture for our children, we also recognize the deep need to provide spiritual inclusion, nurture and growth.
Infant Baptism is an expression of care and love that is excercised within the larger Christian Church. As such, each and every member of the Church shares in the responsibility for educating and caring for young persons who have been baptized.
Baptism reminds us of the Church as the extended family of God. As such, Baptism is the rite which conveys full membership in the Body of Christ.
Confirmation, as the word suggests, is a ‘making firm again” of one’s baptismal identity, covenant and promise. It is an affirmation of what was done to and for younger children in their baptism.
The Holy Eucharist
In addition to certain sacraments which happen once in a lifetime, there are several other sacramental rites of the Church which point to the need for repetition to provide ongoing forgiveness and strength as we live our Christian life.
Healing and Reconciliation are two examples of rites of intensification or strengthening that need to be practiced on a regular and repetitive basis.
The great sacrament of intensification, however, is the Holy Eucharist. This particular sacrament was instituted by our Lord for the continual remembrance of His life, His death and His resurrection, until His coming again.
The outward and visible sign of the Eucharist is bread and wine. The inward and spiritual grace conveyed by the Body and Blood of Christ is the forgiveness of sins, the strengthening of our union with Christ and one another and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.
Eucharist as thanksgiving allows us to present “ourselves, our souls and our bodies as a reasonable and living sacrifice to Christ.” We do so by examining our lives prior to the Eucharist, repenting of our sins through confession and intending to be in love and charity with all persons.
Such preparation and the mystery of the Eucharist strengthens us to carry on the ongoing work that we call ministry.
As the primary rite of intensification, the Eucharist should be received regularly. Regular reception provides us with spiritual discipline born of habit. The habit is one of remembering who we are as God’s people.
Regular reception of the Eucharist touches our deep memory and reminds us of our incorporation into the Body of Christ at our baptism. In this sense the Holy Eucharist is a strengthening and ongoing reminder of our membership in the Church, the Body of Christ and the larger Christian family.
Baptism and Eucharist are complementary sacraments, mutually expressive of God’s love and care for us as members of His Church.
Beyond words
When we look at the shape of the weekly liturgy, we can see that the two great sacraments of the Church invite us to move beyond words to participatory action. The shape of the liturgy begins with the liturgy of the Word, wherein we recall and remember that we were created by the Word and are a people of God’s Word.
Having heard that Word (Holy Scriptures), we profess that Word (Creeds) and are moved to
incorporate that Word through action, the action of the sacraments of incorporation and intensification.
Said differently, the Word moves us to sacramental action, that we call ministry in the world. Such ministry begins with the grace, gifts and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
This grace, gift and consolation is the basis for our ministry that begins at the font and altar. It requires that we move from a position of listening and sitting to standing, moving and participating through the actions of prayer, incorporation and reception: the action of caring and loving in the world.
In Christ,