Sacraments are “powers that comes forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant. (CCC #1116)

Many times in life we can begin to take the Sacraments for granted. We become lackadaisical in our practice and prayer of the Sacraments. Yes, even priests can fall into this trap. Then we are awoken again and witness the power of the sacramental grace God shares with us.
Many of us witnessed during the Easter Vigil at or parish the blessing a grace of the Sacraments of Initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist being celebrate with those who were being received into the Catholic Church. That moment is always one filled with joy. You can almost hear the Holy Spirit laughing with us as the new Catholics are washed, anointed and fed with God’s sacramental joy.
It is a joy coming from the Body of Christ and as the Church teaches above, it is “his Body, the Church” which we are participants in this life giving action of love. The wonder of the sacramental unity we share is our witness to this joyful blessing rather than a dour and listless action of ritual. When we simply become bystanders to these moments of grace, we begin to take God for granted and fail to live the practice of our faith.
The power of these sacramental moments are undeniable.
This past Easter Monday as I sat in and listened to many of the adults who had received the Sacraments they shared their experience with each other and the team that had prepared them. Each person began with a simple thank you and then talked about the “learning of the faith” through the long preparation of classes, retreats and prayer. Many of them then talked about the sacramental moment when the “powers that comes forth” touched them, transformed them and awoke them to a new and powerful moment of grace. They became living witnesses to faith as they talked about the Holy Spirit at work at the moment of Sacramental movement.

“The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith.”’(CCC #1123)

When we become living sacraments we begin to instruct with our very lives. We are living, breathing sacraments of grace in the world. What a wonderful gift. The question begins with: Am I practicing my sacrament with fervent joy and blessing or have I placed it on the back burner ignoring and allowing grace to be inactive in my life? This isn’t a casual question, for the Christian is is a question of life an death. And here is the good news, no matter where our practice of our sacramental life is at this point, God continues to invite us to allow His Holy Spirit to ignite us again and again and again and again… He gives us Sacraments of continual grace, Eucharist and Reconciliation to sustain us and enliven those moments of sacramental love as we recall our Baptismal, Confirmation, Marriage and Ordination vows and promises we made to bless God with each breath we share.
To be made holy, “to sanctify” is a blessing beyond all blessings. Jesus says to us in the Gospel, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49) In practicing our faith, the sacramental grace, the holiness God has created us each to be our challenge is to be the fire burning with the love of Jesus Christ. A fire that attracts, invites and welcomes all into the presence of the one true God.
God Bless
Fr. Mark