The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 153: Sacraments Save (2024)

Episode Date: June 1, 2024

Jesus uses his sacraments to save his people. The Catechism proclaims that the sacraments are “efficacious”, the sacraments are “wrought…by the power of God” alone, and the sacraments are ��necessary for salvation”. Fr. Mike doubles down on the reality that sacraments cause what they signify. They are not merely signs pointing to an already present reality—Jesus, himself, is at work in each and every expression of the sacraments throughout time and in all places. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1127-1129. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 153. We are reading paragraphs 1127 to 1129.

As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications.

Today is day one 53. You're reading paragraphs 1127 to 1129. Wait father, that's three paragraphs. I know. Isn't that crazy? Yesterday was five. Today's three. Tomorrow will be one.

Just kidding. Tomorrow's more than one yesterday was sacraments of faith, right? Remember the day before, sacraments of Christ, sacraments of the church. Yesterday, the purpose of the sacraments, what to do what? To sanctify us, to build up the body of Christ, to give worship to God.

Today, we are highlighting in these three paragraphs, you might think because it's three, it's gonna be light, mm-mm. Tell ya, right now, these are dense, incredible. Number one, sacraments are efficacious, meaning they do something. Keep this in mind. They're not just symbols. They are symbols, but they're symbols that accomplish something. They're efficacious. Also, sacraments, 1128, it's not up to the holiness of the minister. You might have a bishop, priest, or deacon

who celebrates the sacraments and maybe they're like, wow, they're not that holy a people. It's not that Bishop, priest or deacons work. It is the work of Jesus through the priest, through the minister. It's the work of Christ. So the sacraments will always be powerful. A they're efficacious B there will always be efficacious. They will always be powerful regardless of the holiness or righteousness of the minister and the last piece 1129 sacraments man they're necessary for salvation we're talking about what that means so sacraments are powerful sacraments are always powerful

and sacraments are always necessary that's what we're highlighting today in these three paragraphs so as we launch into today let us launch into the Father's heart with a prayer like I did that let's launch into the father's heart with a prayer. Like I did that. Let's launch into the father's heart as we pray father in heaven. You are good and all your works are good. You lead us to your heart. You share with us your Holy spirit. You give us your son to be our Lord, to be our savior, to be our brother. Lord God, even call us your friends.

Help us. Help us to allow you to be Lord. Help us to trust you to be our savior. Help us to walk with you as our brother. And help us to be vulnerable enough to be your friend. Help us to be your faithful friend. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Wow, you guys, okay, here we are, day 153, paragraphs 1127 to 1129. day 153, paragraphs 1127 to 1129. The Sacraments of Salvation Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ Himself is at work. It is He who baptizes, He who acts in His sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears the prayer of his Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation that the sacraments act ex operae operato, literally by the very fact of the actions being performed, that is, by virtue of the saving work of Christ accomplished once for all. It follows that the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God. From the moment that the sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and His Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister.

Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. The Church affirms that for believers, the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. Sacramental grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive Him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son the Savior. Okay, there we have it. Day 153 paragraphs 1127 to 1129.

As I said, just only three paragraphs, but those three paragraphs are potent, right? They are filled, filled with power. A couple things to keep in mind. Just like the sacram filled, filled with power. A couple things to keep in mind. Just like the sacraments, filled with power. Because there are some Christians, right, who would say that the sacraments that they encounter are merely symbols, right? So there are some Christians,

going back a couple hundred years maybe, who would say that, like baptism, that they would say baptism doesn't do anything, but baptism is a public expression of baptism doesn't do anything, but baptism is a public expression of the faith you already have, but it doesn't like accomplish anything. Now here's what we're saying in paragraph 11 27. We're saying that celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. That they're efficacious because in them Christ himself is at

work. So what that means is the sacraments actually do do something which makes sense I mean think about this when it comes to what the scriptures say scripture first Peter says baptism saves you now Meaning baptism does something it's not merely public expression of the faith You already have or the relationship you already have with the Lord No, actually baptism brings you into right relationship with the Lord. Baptism saves you now. It is efficacious, right? So every time that we encounter the Lord in the sacraments, there's power there. It actually does something. It's not simply a

remembrance. It's not simply a symbol. That's so important. In fact, you might say a definition of a sacrament could be a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. It's a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. So for example, in paragraph 1127, it says, not only, like I said before, they're efficacious because in them, Christ himself is at work. It is he who baptizes, right? So you might say, oh, Father Tony baptized me.

Well, yes, but actually we'd say Jesus baptized you because it's always Jesus who's working in those sacraments. It goes on to say, he who acts in his sacraments, Jesus who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. So remember that kind of mini definition I just offered, a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. You can think of it like this. Okay. What does that mean? Well, here's a stop sign that causes what it signifies. You can think of it like this. Okay, what does that mean?

Well, here's a stop sign. Stop sign is a sign that means what? It signifies stop here on the corner. But that stop sign doesn't cause you to stop, right? It doesn't cause what it signifies. I know this because I have rolled through a couple of stop signs in my life. But you can imagine a stop sign

that actually caused you to stop. Maybe you can't picture what it would be, but you can imagine a stop sign that actually caused you to stop. Maybe you can't picture what it would be, but you can imagine that one could exist. So a sign that caused what it signified, the sign that caused what it was a sign of, that's what the sacraments are. So baptism is a sign of washing. It actually does wash away original sin.

Baptism is a sign of birth. It actually does make us into God's sons and daughters. The sacrament of confession, reconciliation, is a sign of God's forgiveness. It actually does forgive our sins. The sacrament of Eucharist is the sign of Christ's body and blood. It actually is Christ's body and blood. Right? So keep this in mind. The sacraments are efficacious. They actually do what they claim to do.

They do what they point to. They do what they're assigned of. The sacrament, right, is a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. It's so important. Now, I'm going to. They do what they're assigned of. The sacrament, right, is a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. It's so important. Now, the next step here in paragraph 1128. So, in 1127, sacraments are powerful, right?

They do something, they're effective. Goes on to say, sacraments are not only effective, but they act by virtue of Jesus Christ. They're not based off of the holiness of the minister It goes on to say the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient by the power of God So the Latin phrase here is ex operae operato, right? So by the very fact of the action being performed heard a translation by the very work worked Which is nice and confusing but by the very fact worked, which is nice and confusing, but by the

very fact of the action being performed, it doesn't matter if the bishop is super holy or the priest is super holy or the deacon super holy, the minister is important because he has to be there and he has to intend what the church intends, but the sacrament is not based off of the holiness or personal righteousness of the celebrant or of the recipient, right? So when you and I approach the sacraments, if we're not righteous, we're not holy, the sacrament still happens because this is based on the power of God. And so the moment the sacrament is celebrated in the way that the church wants it to be, the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit act in and

through it, no matter what. No matter the personal holiness of the minister or the person receiving this, the moment the sacrament is celebrated in the way that Christ and the church intend regardless of the holiness of the individual that sacrament is efficacious it's powerful now at the same time the last sentence in 1128 highlights this nevertheless the fruits of the sacrament also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. So yes, the sacrament happens every single time. It's always there. But whether or not you and I experience the fruits of that sacrament is going to be based off of our disposition,

our openness to receive the fruits and openness to bear the fruits of that sacrament. So an example could be something like, so if you step into a shower, the water is running, it's going to get you clean. But if you have a raincoat on or a poncho on, you're going to be underneath the water of the shower, but it's not going to get you clean. And something similar is there. The power of the sacraments are always there. Like here is the water rushing out, here's the grace rushing out of those sacraments right there. And if you want, if you're open to it, they will transform your life. But if I am not open to it, it's like wearing a raincoat or a poncho in the shower.

Yep, the water's there. All the shampoo and soap is there. I'm not allowing it to clean me. Does that make sense? So this is kind of the example, is that yes, the power of God is always present in the sacrament, regardless of the holiness of the minister or the recipient, but if I want to experience the fruits of the sacraments, I have to have the disposition that says, okay,

I'm open to this. Now, last thing. The church affirms that for believers, the sacraments of the new covenant are necessary for salvation. So this is very important for us. We're going to talk about what if someone doesn't know about Jesus, what if someone doesn't have access to the sacraments later on. But let's just highlight this. They're necessary for salvation. Well one, you know, as we said, 1st Peter,

baptism saves you now. But let's go back all the way to Jesus. In John chapter 3, Jesus makes it very clear, he says, unless you're born again of water and the Spirit, you shall not enter the kingdom of God. So baptism, essential, necessary. In John chapter six, Jesus says, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. So the Eucharist, necessary for salvation.

That's going to be very, very important for us. Now, the question obviously immediately pops up into our minds and says, wait, what about those who don't have the opportunity to experience baptism or to receive the Eucharist? That's another question for another time. For us right now though, it is incredibly important that at least at the very beginning of this whole thing, we acknowledge the fact that Jesus, our Lord and Savior,

our God Himself has said that the sacraments are necessary for salvation. And to say, what about other people? We'll get to that. But first, let's just acknowledge the fact that God Himself has said, unless you're born again of water and the Spirit, you shall not enter the kingdom of God. So baptism necessary. He also has said that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his

blood, you will have no life within you. That's Eucharist necessary for salvation. To just sit with that for just even a little bit before we start asking the of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will have no life within you. That's Eucharist necessary for salvation. To just sit with that for just even a little bit before we start asking the question, the what about question. But what about others? What about someone else?

Does that make sense? Let's just highlight that and be okay with that just for today. In the future, we'll take a deeper look at the what abouts. For today, we recognize that the fruit of the sacramental life is that the spirit of adoption, right, that the spirit of the Father saying, you are my child, it makes us partakers

in the divine nature. We share in the very nature of God because, we're talking about this when it comes to baptism, because of what Jesus Christ has done for us and the power of the Holy Spirit abiding in us, the Holy Spirit himself abiding in us, we become temples of the Holy Spirit, we now are partakers in the divine nature. You, if you've been baptized, you share in the very nature of divinity, you share in the very nature of God. We'll look at the

whatabouts later on, but right now just to highlight, my goodness, the gift that God has given to each one of His baptized children is amazing. Why? Because the sacraments are efficacious. They're powerful. The sacraments are real every single time and they're necessary. And that's what we heard today. A little review.

You guys, what a great day. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.