February 19, 2022 - Pastor Message
04/25/2024“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17).
“The sacraments of Christian initiation Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist lay the foundations of every Christian life… The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1212).
Last week we discussed the sacraments as privileged ways that we celebrate and receive grace, the saving life and love of God that Christ brings us and shares with us through the Holy Spirit. The sacraments are effective signs of grace, making the grace they signify present and effective in our lives. They are instituted by Christ, meaning they grow from the roots of Christ’s life, teaching, and ministry, all under the influence of the Holy Spirit in and through the Church. And all of them provide the means of our salvation, each in their own way.
We call those sacraments that immerse us by stages into the mystery of God’s life the Sacraments of Initiation, which are three: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Baptism is our first step into the living water of grace, washing away our sin that which separates us from Christ uniting us to Christ and his Body, the Church, and filling our spiritual lungs with the breath of the Holy Spirit.
Like children who jump into a pool without knowing how to swim, however, left to ourselves we can do little but splash around. Our bodies and minds have not yet adapted to this new situation and need to be strengthened by knowledge and skill. Through Confirmation, a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit seals and strengthens the grace of our Baptism, empowering us to live out the new life we have received and to carry out the mission that comes with it, the mission of Christ.
That mission, to serve as living witnesses of the gospel until we attain its prize, is an all-consuming mission that demands everything of us, like the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45 46). To accomplish it, we need to be regularly nourished by a new infusion of grace, which is what we receive in the Eucharist. Like the prophet Elijah in the desert on the way to the mountain of God, we need to eat the heavenly food that God provides, “else the journey will be too long for you” (1 Kings 19:7). It was for this very reason that Christ gave us his Body and Blood, so that, filled with his life that he poured out for us on the cross, we could follow his command to take up our cross and follow him all the way to the kingdom. That’s what the sacraments are all about, and the Sacraments of Initiation bring us into that saving mystery.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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