Transcript

In the Gospels, the Lord performs many healings.

In one scene, on the way to the home of the synagogue official, there is a woman in the crowd who approaches Him from behind.

This woman has had a hemorrhage for 12 years and the scripture say that she spent her substance on many doctors seeking a cure for her affliction.

She says in her heart, If only I can touch the fringe of His garment, then I will be healed.

And she does just that and receives from our Lord a miraculous healing.

It says then that our Lord felt power go out from Him and He turns in the midst of a crowded street, a busy and chaotic scene, in order to identify who has touched Him.

The woman then presents herself and the Lord declares, Your faith has saved you.

In this scene, we have a beautiful icon of the sacramental life of the Church, for in the sacraments we meet the same Lord as power goes out from Him.

We touch, as it were, the fringe of His garment, and His healing grace is applied generously to our souls.

In this section, we'll talk about two of the sacraments of initiation, two sacraments which inaugurate the life of grace within and strengthen its effect.

First, baptism.

Baptism is the first of the sacraments.

First, in that we receive it before any of the others.

And also, in the sense that it's the door of the other sacraments.

It admits us to the reception of those other sacraments.

Baptism is the sacrament of rebirth as we are born anew as the Lord says to Nicodemus.

We are born not of the flesh, but of the Holy Spirit and of fire.

In baptism, we die with Christ and so rise with Him to new life, to spiritual life.

Now, in each sacrament, we identify what we call form and matter.

That is to say, we identify the words and gestures that must be present to validly confer the sacrament.

At this point, we pause to note that the minister of baptism is a priest or a deacon.

It, of course, can be performed by a bishop, but uniquely among the sacraments, this sacrament can be performed by anyone in the danger of death.

So, in the event that someone is desirous of the sacrament and there is water at hand, any person whatsoever, provided they say the right words and use water, is able to confer the sacrament.

Now, baptism is conferred by the pouring of water or immersion in water and by pronouncing the Trinitarian formula.

We get these words from the end of the Gospel of Matthew as the Lord sends His disciples to all nations, instructing them to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is, of course, instituted by Christ like all the sacraments.

Here, Christ institutes the sacrament of baptism at His own baptism.

But His baptism is a unique situation where He Himself is not cleansed of sin, but rather by being baptized by John, He imparts to the waters the very ability to sanctify our souls.

So, He descends into the waters not to be healed, but to sanctify them.

We also acknowledge with each of the sacraments certain effects.

So, with baptism, the soul is filled with grace, with the virtues, specifically of faith, hope, and charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, and also with the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord.

In addition, the sacrament of baptism heals original sin.

In so doing, it makes the person, by the grace of God, truly a child of God, an adopted son or daughter of the Most High.

What is more, it conforms the soul to that of its Lord and Savior.

It conforms us to Jesus Christ.

Not merely in an abstract or impersonal sense, but really and intimately in His passion, in His death, and in His resurrection.

We begin to resemble the only begotten of the Father.

One further effect of baptism is that it imparts to the soul a character.

Now, a character is an indelible mark.

That is to say, it's a real change that occurs to the soul which cannot pass away.

What it gives is a real share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, so it makes us true worshipers in spirit and in truth such that we can offer spiritual sacrifice and unite the offering of our lives to that of Jesus.

The next sacrament that we'll want to describe is confirmation.

Confirmation is also a sacrament of initiation.

That is to say, it begins and grows within us, the Christian life.

So, confirmation strengthens the graces given at baptism.

So, whereas baptism signifies spiritual birth, confirmation signifies and brings about spiritual maturity.

The form and matter of confirmation are the laying on of hand and anointing with oil and pronouncing the words, Be sealed with the Holy Spirit.

Ordinarily, confirmation is performed by a bishop but, as is the case in many parishes, for instance, at the Easter Vigil, it will often be done by a priest, typically the pastor.

We pause to note different effects of the sacrament of confirmation.

As we said before, it's a sacrament of maturity, so it begets in the soul the kind of perfection proper to age.

In so doing, it increases within us grace and virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

One of the very beautiful effects of the sacrament of confirmation is that it actually imparts to the believer a kind of power for Christian witness.

It strengthens the soul to undertake the spiritual struggle which we encounter in the world.

As with baptism, confirmation also imparts a character.

It is one of three sacraments that imparts a character, the other being Holy Orders.

So, with these sacraments, we pause to recognize that not only does power go out from Christ, but it actually dwells within us.

The sacraments begin and grow in us a life of grace that set us on a course to Heaven.

And as we continue in our study, we'll see just how the Lord undertakes to carry out this saving work.