August 17, 2025 - Pastor Message
August 20, 2025JUBILEE 2025 SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (cont.)
JUBILEE 2025
SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (cont.)
“The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify the people, to build up the Body of Christ, and, finally, to worship God. Because they are signs they also belong to the realm of instruction. 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. They do, indeed, confer grace, but, in addition, the very act of celebrating them is most effective in making people ready to receive this grace to their profit, to worship God duly, and to practice charity. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the faithful should easily understand the symbolism of the sacraments and should eagerly frequent those sacraments which were instituted to nourish the Christian life” (SC, 59).
While the Eucharist certainly holds pride of place among all the sacraments due to the unique way Christ becomes present for us and was therefore a special focus of the reforms of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Liturgy also set out to reform all of the sacraments according to the same basic principles. SC lays out a clear theology of the sacraments that does not treat them as magical grace dispensers from which people passively receive, as they were at times seen in the past. The principle of full and active participation in the liturgy applies to all the sacraments, but, for people to fully and actively participate in the sacraments, and thus fully benefit from them, they need to understand them.
The sacraments are signs through which God sanctifies us and builds up his Church with his grace and enables us to offer back to him fitting worship. For signs to be effective, they must be recognized, understood, and believed in. If a stop sign is covered by tree branches and therefore not recognized, or no one ever taught me what a stop sign means, or I don’t agree that it’s necessary for me to stop there and drive right through, that sign is ineffective and will not accomplish its purpose. It is the same with the sacraments. If some obstacle in my life, such as sin or ignorance, prevents me from recognizing or understanding the sign of a sacrament, such as bread and wine become Body and Blood of Christ, or I don’t believe in the sign, such as sacramental confession for the forgiveness of sins, then those sacraments will not be effective in my life. I will not be sanctified, I will fail to offer fitting worship to God, and, to that extent, the Church will not be built up.
Vatican II reminds us that the sacraments not only impart grace but faith. They educate and form us in the faith, teaching us what we believe through the objects, actions, rituals and prayers - the signs - we use to celebrate them. For example, blessing the water we use in baptism teaches us that God is washing not only our body but our soul and unites us with the whole history of salvation recounted in the blessing, from creation, when the Spirit moved over the water, through the blood and water flowing from Christ’s side on the cross. If we just poured water over a person’s head and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” no one would know what that means and, while technically valid, it would be practically useless, with little to no effect in that person’s everyday life. The same is true for all of the sacraments. The reforms of Vatican II sought to draw out this other important dimension in their celebration, building up people in the faith through better understanding. May we take advantage of all the ways we can grow in the faith through grace-filled AND faith-filled liturgies here at St. Boniface.
Fr. Marc Stockton
-
Current News