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October 16, 2004
The Sacraments: Your Family's Lifeline
Today our society is overwhelmed by oversexualization, materialism, and secularism. Everywhere we look one of these three realities of our modern day culture are attempting to lead us astray. Our children are told that sex is okay as long as it is "safe." Our culture make us feel that everything would be just fine if we just had a little more money or that bigger house or that new car. Our culture smiles at us and asks that we keep our religious beliefs to ourselves and to stop "imposing" our morality on them.
So what is the Catholic family to do? How are we to keep our children Catholic and equally important remain faithful ourselves? The answer is both obvious and simple...the Sacraments. The key to remaining faithful, the way to growth in holiness, the foundation on which we safeguard our families is found in the Sacraments.
We begin by baptizing our children, allowing God's sanctifying grace to work in their lives. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word." - CCC pg. 312
Secondly, we make the Mass of the utmost importance in our families lives, going at least on Sundays and during the week, when possible. The Mass is the perfect form of worship and grace. In the Mass we experience two liturgies; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We hear God's Word and then we receive our Lord Jesus - Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - in the Most Holy Eucharist. Again let us look to the Catechism:
1324 The Eucharist is "the source and the summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministeries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."
1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking." -CCC, pg. 334
By making the Mass a priority in your family's life, you provide yourself, your spouse, and your children with the necessary graces to grow in holiness, to remain faithful, and ultimately to live a Christ-like life.
Third, go, as a family, to Confession (the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance) monthly. It is important to teach your children to confess their sins, thus helping them to remain in a state of grace. It is equally, if not more so, important for parents to go to Confession. The Catechism states:
1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion." -CCC, pg. 357
1468 "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship." Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive this sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation "is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation." Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true "spiritual resurrection," restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God." -CCC pg. 369
By practicing monthly Confession, the family continually asks for God's forgiveness and grace to lead holier lives. Practicing this as a family strengthen the unity and love of the family.
Fourth, make sure that your children receive the sacrament of Confirmation. The Catechism sums it up best:
Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed. - CCC, pg. 325-326
Of course, after these we have the vocational sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders and the sacrament of healing, the Anointing of the Sick. Yet the first four sacraments are those most important to the life of the family and the development of your children, assuming that your marriage was celebrated in the presence of a priest and/or deacon of the Catholic Church.
I can say with complete confidence that it was the sacramental life that held our family together and keeps us close today. My parents instilled in us children, all six of us, the need for sacramental grace. Today, three of us are married, two of us with children of our own, another is close to being ordained a priest, and the youngest two are about to finish high school. For each of us our Catholic Faith is of the utmost importance. We are all devoted to living what we believe and we love the Lord. This is the direct result of our parents' faithfulness and perseverance in living the sacramental life as a family. To this day, my parent still go to daily Mass and Confession on a regular basis.
My prayer is that each of you reading this will experience the same in your family. Keep in mind that it isn't always easy, I remember many times when waking up on Sunday morning we children would complain about having to go to Mass, yet our parents remained faithful. Now we understand and are thankful.
May the Holy Family bless and guide each of you and your families. Amen.
Posted by HolyFamily at October 16, 2004 12:39 AM
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Comments
I am in year 10 at Marymount College on the Gold Coast and am currently studying the topic 'Healing'. I am doing an Assignment on the Sacrament of Reconciliation and am wondering if you have any useful information that i could use about the differences and changes made from the way confession was in the older days and the way we conduct it in more modern times.
Any information would be much appriciated,
Thank you very much for your help.
Kind Regards
Brooke Donovan
Posted by: brooke donovan at July 27, 2005 03:21 AM
