Contact details: Fr. David Wallace St. Bartholomew s, Castlemilk 0141 634 2051 fr.david@btconnect.com www.sacramentaltheology.weebly.com
Progress of Module: Wednesday 29th January: Thinking Sacraments Wednesday 5th February: 'Sacramental Theology Wednesday 12th February: Making Christians Wednesday 19th February: Catechesis (Ellen McBride) Wednesday 26th February: No Class Wednesday 5th March: Source and summit Wednesday 19th March: The need for healing Saturday 22nd March: Commissioned for service
Kelly, Liam Sacraments Revisited: What do they mean today?, Darton, Longmann & Todd, London, 1998. Martos, Joseph Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church, Liguori, Missouri, 1991. Noll, Ray R., Sacraments: A new understanding for a new generation, Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, 1999.
Initiation Healing Sacraments Service
Baptism Initiation Confirmation Eucharist
Healing Reconciliation Anointing Of the Sick
Service Marriage Ordination
RCIA Inquiry Formation Enlightenment Mystagogia
Inquiry (or Pre-Catechumenate): Jesus has whispered your name and you answer his call Lead by the Holy Spirit A time to tell your stories A time to ask questions Making new friends with similar needs and inquiries at this point in time
The Rite of acceptance In this rite you seek and gain the acceptance of the worshipping community. You are a step closer to God and the Christian community.
The Catechumenate Sharing traditions Sharing customs Sharing practices Exploring prayer Scripture Worship And the apostolic life
The Rite of Election You are sent as the apostles are sent to be received by the bishop and the worshipping community. Today you are elected to receive the Easter sacraments.
Lent Our call to repentance and conversion A time of retreat A time to scrutinise our lives A time for fasting, almsgiving and prayer.
Easter Vigil: Sacraments of Initiation The waters of baptism The anointing with oil and the gifts of the Holy Spirit through confirmation The Eucharistic meal The body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord Sent on mission to love and serve our Lord
Mystagogy Celebrate! We immerse ourselves into the work and mission of Jesus Christ. We are sent!
Pre-catechumenate Sensitivity to personal situations How long does this period last? What happens during this time? During this period, priests and deacons, catechists and other lay persons are to give the candidates a suitable explanation of the Gospel (RCIA 38)
FIRST STEP: Acceptance into the order of Catechumens The rite that is called the rite of acceptance into the order of catechumens is of the utmost importance. Assembling publicly for the first time, the candidates who have completed the period of the precatechumenate declare their intention to the Church and the Church in turn, carrying out its apostolic mission, accepts them as persons who intend to become its members.
Elements of rite of acceptance Receiving the candidates Candidates first acceptance of the Gospel Affirmation by the Sponsors and the assembly Signing with the sign of the Cross Invitation to the celebration of God s word LITURGY OF THE WORD Presentation of a bible(?) Intercessions for the Catechumens Prayer over the catechumens Dismissal of catechumens?
Rites belonging to the period of catechumenate Celebrations of the Word of God Learning to keep Sunday as a holy day Minor exorcisms -optional (which draw attention to the Christian life) Blessings of catechumens Anointing of catechumens- optional
SECOND STEP: Rite of election Parish celebration for sending catechumens for election and candidates for recognition by the bishop (optional) Celebration of the Rite of election of catechumens and of the call to continuing conversion of candidates who are preparing for Confirmation and/ or Eucharist or reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church
Period of Purification and enlightenment Scrutinies ( solemnly celebrated on Sundays 128) Sundays 3,4 &5 during Lent Presentation of the Creed ( during the week after the first scrutiny, should preferably be celebrated in the presence of a community of the faithful, within Mass, after the homily ). Presentation of the Lord s prayer (week after third scrutiny as above).
Holy Saturday the elect should refrain from their usual activities, spend their time in prayer and reflection, and, as far as they can, observe a fast. Morning Prayer? Recitation of the Creed; Ephphetha Rite; Choosing a baptismal name; Anointing with the oil of catechumens; Blessing and dismissal.
Celebration of Sacraments of Christian Initiation Baptism Confirmation Eucharist
Mystagogia (Post-baptismal catechesis) To strengthen the neophytes as they begin to walk in newness of life, the community of the faithful, their godparents, and their parish priests should give them thoughtful and friendly help. How do we celebrate and continue to accompany the neophytes as a parish community? Pentecost: celebration!
RCIA: A MODEL OF CHURCH A process that involves the whole of the Christian community Patience & understanding Celebration (all year round) Prayer of the Faithful Common journey
A few assumptions Sacraments are not for the unconscious, the asleep or the dead. They are for the awake and aware, the living and growing. Sacraments are signs, and they function as symbols: they resonate in the thoughts and feelings of those who perceive them. Sacraments are actions, and they function as rituals: they repeat gestures and words that are meaningful to those who perceive them. Sacraments are not merely symbolic rituals, but they are at least that, and they must be understood as such. (Joseph Martos, The Catholic Sacraments, 17)
Sacraments are not just for individuals. In fact, there is not one of them that can be performed alone. Sacraments are group actions, and under normal conditions they involve a number of persons in dramatic interaction with one another. (Martos, 49)
The Sacraments did not fall from heaven, fully formed. (86)
Jesus did not institute the sacraments by initiating certain religious rituals himself. Instead, he gave to the entirety of human experience a new significance, because he lived and died and rose into new life under the constant impact of God s intimate presence. (Sacraments & Sacramentality, 66)
Some parishes are dead, lifeless; others have spirit. The difference is tangible. You can feel the difference when you talk to parishioners, read the Sunday bulletin, you can tell it at Mass by the way people say responses, sing, etc. by the way they hang around after mass for a blether or rush quietly to their cars. (Martos, 183)
What is your experience of sacraments? What do they do? How would you define a sacrament?
A symbol is a concrete sign, or a concrete gesture or action: first, that man receives from his cultural environment and appropriates in a more or less active way or even creative manner; second, that serves him in all reference systems; third, in which he expresses himself and in which he recognises, explicitly or implicitly, an essential part of his personal, cultural, familial, social and eventually religious identity; and, fourth, that links him with some group that shares his identity. (David Power, Unsearchable Riches: the Symbolic Nature of Liturgy, 61-62)
A sign tends to affect us simply, and we tend to respond simply...
...a symbol tends to affect us complexly, and we tend to respond complexly.
Defining Sacrament: A Sacrament is an outward sign of inward grace, ordained by Jesus Christ, by which grace is given to our souls. (A Catechism of Christian Doctrine)
A sacrament is a sacred sign by which we worship God, his love is revealed to us and his saving work accomplished in us. In the sacraments, God shows us what he does and does what he shows us. (The Teaching of the Catholic Church- A new Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Herbert McCabe OP)
The Sacraments of the New Testament were instituted by Christ the Lord and entrusted to the Church. As actions of Christ and of the Church, they are signs and means by which faith is strengthened, worship is offered to God and our sanctification is brought about. Thus they contribute in the most effective manner to establishing, strengthening and manifesting ecclesiastical communion. Accordingly, in the celebration of the sacraments both the sacred ministers and all the other members of Christ s faithful must show due reverence and great care.
A sacrament is a worldly reality which reveals the sacrament of salvation, because it is its realisation. (How to Understand the Sacraments, Philippe Beguerie, Claude Duchesneau)
The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131)
A Sacrament Is a festive action In which Christians assemble To celebrate their lived experience And to call to heart their common story. The action is a symbol Of God s care for us in Christ. Enacting the symbol Brings us closer to one another in the Church To the Lord Who is there for us. (Tad Guzie, Book of Sacramental Basics)