THE NECESSITY OF THE SACRAMENTS IN OUR SALVATION

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Debates on the concept, origin, validity, function, number, operation and necessity of the
sacraments occupy a bold seat in the history of the Church. This topic really touches deeply
the kernels of the Catholic faith sacramentality, mediation and communion. Sacramentality
deals with the notion of reality as instrument of divine self-revelation and communication.
Mediation bridges the chasm between finite and infinite. Communion is the interrelatedness
of the earthly Church with the heavenly Church; the former on pilgrimage, the latter already
at home.God, infinite and transcendent, unveils himself to us and advances to us. Due to our
finitude, we cannot meet God where and how he is; we meet him where and how he comes to
meet us; we encounter him not as he is in himself, but in finite ways perceptible to humans.
This self-communication also calls for human response. This process of unveiling and
encountering is sacramental in character because of the mediation, the symbolic
representation. God, pure Spirit, sublime and infinite, cannot be seen, touched or heard except
in a sacramental encounter whereby he reveals and communicates himself through means
appropriate to our nature, the sacraments, which reveal Gods presence to us.
The sacramentality of the Church is always seen in relation to Jesus Christ whose instrument
of salvation the Church is. Christ founded and is always present in his Church, especially in
her liturgical celebrations, particularly in the sacraments (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no.
7).Based on this, the sacraments mediate Gods grace in the community of believers, the
people of the New Alliance, the New Race.It is the Holy Spirit who gives His grace through
the sacraments and sanctifies the souls.It is by means of the gift of the Holy Spirit that the
Catholic Church enjoys Christs presence and continues His ministry and saving
missionespecially through the seven sacraments which He instituted.

WHAT ARE THE SACRAMENTS?

According to the New Dictionary of Theology, The word Sacrament translates the Latin
Sacramentum and the Greek Mysterion, signifying one of the seven central Liturgical rites of
the Church through which participants experience the paschal mystery of Christ, are formed
into the body of Christ and grow in the life of grace. In the Churchs Catechism also, the
sacraments are efficacious signs of grace instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church by
which divine life is dispensed to us (The Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC]no. 1131).
Following this understanding, St Augustine defines sacrament as a visible sign of invisible
grace. In the same vein, Pope Paul VI in his opening address before the Second Session of
Vatican II in 1963, as cited in Catholicism by Richard P. McBrien, gave his definition of
sacrament as a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God (McBrien, R. Catholicism
P. 9).McBrienalso defines sacrament, in the wide sense, as any finite reality through which
the divine is perceived to be disclosed and communicated, and through which our human
response to the divine assumes some measure of shape, form and structure (McBrien.
Catholicism P. 788). Hefurther defines it more specifically as those finite realities through
which God is communicated to the Church and through which the Church responds to Gods
self-communication. Here, we refer to the seven ritual sacraments of the Church.
Meanwhile, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, says that the sacraments are powers that
come 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 master works of God in the
new and everlasting covenant.
Let us now consider the sacraments which will aid us in the salvation that we are talking
about. First, there are seven sacraments as the church emphasizes. They are: Baptism,
Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance (Reconciliation), Anointing of the sick, Matrimony,
and Holy Orders. Each of these sacraments has a means of generating grace that works in
fulfilment of the continuation of the saving work of Christ.However, the Protestant traditions
reduced the number of sacraments from seven in Roman Catholicism to two - baptism and
the Eucharist.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENTS

The sacraments were instituted by Christ in the same way that the church was instituted
by Christ. They have their origin in Jesus proclamation of the kingdom of God and in his call
to discipleship. Jesus willed the sacraments just the way He willed the church.The Churchs
teaching that the sacraments were instituted by Christ may be understood that these
sacraments originate from Christ either through His words and deeds or positive will. They
are founded on the mysteries of Christ. Christ instituted all the sacraments immediately and
personally. He determined the specific sacramental operation of grace and fixed a
corresponding outward efficacious sign. The Apostles only handed on what they had
received. Although from the scriptures, we find direct evidence of only baptism, Eucharist,
Penance (Reconciliation) and Consecration as reportedly and explicitly instituted,
nevertheless, confirmation, anointing of the sick and matrimony are not missing in the
scriptures as the Apostles handed down to us.

THE EFFICACY OF THE SACRAMENTS

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.
This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation that the sacraments act ex opereoperato
(literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., 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 a 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 (CCC nn. 1127-1128).

As such, sacramental celebrations properly performedmake present or renew the mystery of

Christ, derive their efficacy from Christ and confer the grace they signify. By virtue of their
divine origin, the efficacy of the sacraments is ex opera operato(from the work worked by
Christ), that is, based on the merits of neither the celebrant nor the recipient, but of Christ.
They are gifts by Christ to the Church as actions of the Spirit. Hence, the sacraments are
pneumatological, Christological and also ecclesiological in character. Nonetheless, the
opposite position has been maintained by Protestants that the value of the sacrament does
depend in some way on those who celebrate and receive, that is,ex opereoperantis (from the
work being done by the minister), as against what the Church teaches.

ARE THE SACRAMENTS OBSELETE TODAY?

The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for
salvation(CCC 1129).The necessity of the Sacraments in our salvation cannot be over-
emphasized. We need these sacraments in our lives so as to facilitate our thirst/yearning for
Jesus Christ and nourishment of continuing the work of salvation which our master Jesus
left for us. Christ has let loose his sufficient grace to help us reach the end the ultimate
which is to make heaven. The problem now is our readiness to accept and enhance this
continuous saving work of Christ
Every moment of our life longs for the grace we derive from the sacraments to enable us live
out our full potentials in the spiritual realm. From cradle, man is ushered into the Christian
way of life via the sacraments of Christian initiation, freed from the clutches of sin, fed with
spiritual food and confirmed in faith. As he confronts the vicissitudes of life, rising and
falling, both spiritually and physically, weakened by the wiles of the devil, the flesh and the
world, he is recuperated with the sacraments of healing, of both soul and body, and renewed
and more refreshed to forge ahead in the supernatural life. Finally, when he is mature enough,
the sacraments at the service of others enable him to enter into a fuller personal communion
with Christ the Bridegroom and Head of the church, his Bride and Body, by which he
becomes more directly involved in the divine injunction to increase and multiply, to train and
to bring little children to Christ, to expand Gods family on earth, and to lead those entrusted
to him to the knowledge of God, in word and deed.
Therefore, we can unequivocally assert that the function of the sacraments is still valid,
insofar as man is still a pilgrim on earth. Hence, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1123)
avers that 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. It is this faith in Christ which ultimately
informs, directs and fulfils our faith in the sacraments of Christ administered by his Church.

IN BRIEF
Sequel to our fallen nature, God in his infinite wisdom, goodness, love and mercy has
provided us with these supernatural means of attaining the beatific vision. These are the
sacraments of the Church. Though God also in his infinite freedom may not be limited to the
means of the sacraments only in granting salvation, we are bound in obedience and gratitude
to avail ourselves of the sacraments he has offered us.

The gift of the sacraments is what Christ promised to leave for us, and that which the Holy
Spirit [the advocator] sanctifies. Do we then reject these sacraments as the essential
instrument to attain salvation and equally have this saving work of Christ continued? It is in
this saving cross of Jesus, in the gift of the holy spirit in the sacraments which flow forth
from the pierced side of the redeemer [cf. Jn. 19:34], that believers find the grace and
strength always to keep Gods holy laws, even amidst the gravest of difficulties.
In His love for us all, Christ gave us the sacraments to bring us to everlasting life. Do you
believe in the sacrament? Do you practice what you believe and preach it? Then if you know
the necessity and values of the sacraments in your life, do all that you are required and
salvation will be yours.