The Church as a Sacrament

“Stretch, Stretch, Stretch: Standing In the Shadow of Me No More”

All is gift.

The worn, the torn, the forlorn.

The new, the bright, the dull.

Each reflects the other.

Each offers awareness of the other.

Each seeks communion with the other.

Each brings the other and the creator of all to me.

Let us untie what binds; let us weave what heals.

Let us become anew; let us sparkle rewoven.

This is a short poem reflection I recently wrote to accompany an art quilt completed during a workshop at Ashe Cultural Arts Center. I signed up for the program because I was curious about working within a group of women where I would be “the minority”; while all of us were from New Orleans and surrounding areas, Ashe is an art and cultural community based center in Central City that creates and supports programs emphasizing the contributions of people of African descent (http://www.ashecac.org/main/index.php/about-us/mission.html). I am of Irish, French and Acadian descent. I wanted to reach beyond our histories of separateness in our hometown to a common interest of women who enjoyed creating in community with fiber and thread. I was aware of my place in entering the space of another, although the program was open to the public. There were times when the instructor, or more of a facilitator, said things about which I did not agree. I did not respond but recognized that our realities are different; neither is incorrect. I exercised my listening skills rather than my knee-jerk response “unskills.”

This chosen journey of companionship in a neighborhood and community different from my daily life is on my mind as I reflect on the sacramental nature of the Church. We, the people of God; the people of the Church take on that sacramental nature when our humble selves “participate in the distribution of the bread of life to a suffering world that is alienated from God” (Vondey 141). Understand, I did not participate in this program to “distribute the bread of life” to anyone or to seek a suffering world. The women with whom I engaged are not alienated from God. In fact, they often included their Christian worship activities and praises in their conversations and art projects. I am not so outspoken about my faith. I participated to increase my awareness of the way others think and create. I thought of myself as the guest to whom others shared their hospitality. I most value some new acquaintances; that some may develop into friendships. Participating “in the distribution of the bread of life” is done where we are every minute of the day: respectfully sharing concerns and interests; inviting others to come and see the love of God; accepting others’ invitation to join in their community that offers peace and joy; not only accept alone time, but seek solitude or ask another to join in the public prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours that may be “a deed not seen by others” (cf. Mat. 23:1-12); reflect on how do I serve others; what is my motivation?

We may be the external signs of grace that speak to ourselves and others one way or the other of Jesus; the choice is ours to engage with the broken body of Christ: each of us may invite another to the table of bread; to seek encounter with the presence of Christ in the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist is a public display of God’s hospitality, grace and salvation (Vondey 143). Participating in the Liturgy of the Hours, the “’part two’” of the official, public worship of the Catholic Church,” completes the “’sacrifice of praise’ in the name of, and on behalf of, the Church universal” (Sockey 2-3; 66). How easy to forget and difficult to remember “our highest purpose: to recognize and adore our Creator” (70). The daily sequence of prayers keeps our focus on our reliance “for divine assistance with all the needs of the body of Christ” (52).

LAWYER'S WEEK 8 BLOG

Lawyer’s Week 8 Blog:

Reading Chapter 5 of Vondey’s “People of Bread” got my mind reeling on the topic of traditions. Exploration of the topic of traditions within the Church gives me the impression of viewing traditions, whether it is ‘Breaking of the Bread’, ‘Last Supper’, or the ‘Passover’, as though these traditions are overemphasized. I know traditions of a vast variety are commonplace throughout the global community, but, it is so prevalent in the Church until it appears to detract from the deeper meaningfulness of the experience of truly serving God. There is lots of evidence to support my point of view. While I respect and honor the traditions of the Church, I find among the brethren more excitement and interest in traditions as opposed to cultivating the heartfelt passion to serve God in accordance with the teachings and holiness of Gospel of Jesus Christ. Putting all things aside, serving God is not about traditions; it is a matter of one’s commitment to put God first above and beyond any and all other priorities. Even though I believe the Catholic Church is more ceremonial and reliant on traditions, within Christianity it is not just the Catholic Church it is all denominations which prioritize patterns of traditions to the point of traditions becoming overemphasized to the expense of losing sight of the divine purpose of worshiping God. Jesus alluded to this when he told His disciples “I am the bread of life”.  

Humans can continuously interpret and apply their results to the extent to which traditions are honored. My voice is not loud enough or strong enough to stop them. I simply pray for all of my brothers and sisters to make more of an effort to reach out and seek for the emulation of the life of Jesus in our lifetime without being so preoccupied with traditions.

Foundation and Understanding of the Sacraments

Sacraments are sacred components of Catholic Church. Without Them, we cannot live as devoted Catholics. As I read Chapter 1, I was reminded of what my Religion class talked about when we were studying Sacraments. As I had taught and read, there are three groups of Sacraments: Initiation (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation), Healing (Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick), and Service of Communion (Matrimony, Holy Orders). Council of Florence excellently details how these Sacraments were grouped. In Initiation Sacraments, we are reborn in Christ, strengthened in faith and grace, and nourished by Jesus’s Body and Blood. With Healing Sacraments, we become healthy spiritually in Reconciliation, and healthy physically in Anointing of the Sick. In Matrimony and Holy Orders we serve the Church by growing the Church physically or governing the Church (Johnson 11-12). Through these Sacraments we grow closer to God, and our Church is able to flourish and continue. In this blog I am going to focus on the early foundations and opinions of the Sacraments, ending with Luther and Calvin.

If the priest who is giving Sacraments is wicked – are those Sacrament still valid for us? St. Augustine answers when discussing Baptism. He writes that the Baptism is inherently holy despite the wickedness of the minister or the recipient. The recipient receives “the holiness of the mystery…(and) the remission of sins” if he is in good standing with the Church (Johnson 3). No matter what, as long as the recipient is holy, he is still reborn. St. Thomas Aquinas writes that if an evil minister administers the Sacrament, it is still holy because power of the Sacrament comes from God, and it is God who confers the Sacrament (Johnson 10).  As I understand, these Sacraments come from Jesus Christ, who acts in the person of the priest.

I know several Protestants who don’t believe in Reconciliation because they feel that we should only need to confess our sins to God. Therefore I found it intriguing that Martin Luther –Leader of the Reformation and a Founder of Protestants –included Penance (Reconciliation) as one of three Sacraments he found valid. He felt Penance valid because of the evidence he found in the Scriptures, he did not consider the other Sacraments true because of the lack of spiritual evidence (Johnson 14). Luther sets the foundation for a future Reformation leader in John Calvin, who wrote that Sacraments could only fulfill their role if Spirit was moved inside of us. If we did not feel God’s power and love through the Sacraments, then the Sacraments “accomplish nothing more in our eyes than the splendor of the sun shining upon our eyes, or a voice sounding in deaf ears” (Johnson 18).  In fact, in most cases, the Sacraments do little for the believers (Johnson 19). Essentially, the Sacraments do not matter if we do not take them seriously.

I wrote about foundation of the Sacraments because to understand how Catholics view the Sacraments we must understand the foundation. It was fascinating to read the beliefs of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin. As I’ve taught my students, we must be aware of God’s presence in the Sacraments. Through prayer – whether it is the Liturgy of the Hours or Rosary – we grow in our faith. When we grow in our faith, we can fully receive the Sacraments, thereby fully understanding God and Jesus’s role. When we understand God’s role and His calling for us, we can be saved.

Joy and Happiness and Perseverance

Joy of the Gospel 1 - Words to Describe this Church

Jesus's Resurrection and Ascension - A True Moment of Joy

I loved reading through Pope Francis’s Joy of the Gospel because what we have here is a message that we should really take time to read and reflect on, especially during this Lenten season. He writes this in a way that is clear and easy for the average Catholic to fully understand, as well as a profound way, which still leaves a deep impact on us. Pope Francis opens up with how when we accept the Gospel and we accept Christ in our hearts, our lives will be of boundless joy and no longer be filled with loneliness (Evangeli Gaudium 4).  I love this opening because when I have been teaching my students Morality this quarter, we talked about how by accepting Christ’s love we encounter true happiness. Sometimes we try to find this happiness through other means, whether it’s through the “pursuit of frivolous pleasures” such as constant video games or drinking, or just other interests that are not very God-centered. As a result, we listen less to God’s voice and more to other aspects of a conscience that is not well-formed (5).  When we take time to form a good conscience through prayer and time with Christ, we are more able to pursue the interests and will that God calls us to pursue.

Lent and Easter are a time in which we can understand what true joy looks like. Joy will not always be as a form of pleasure and ease and the sense that our demands are met; sometimes true joy is a form of suffering, testing, difficulty. Other times it takes detaching ourselves from obligations and instead finding simplicity in persevering and remaining strong in our faith (7). There are several days where if I described joy as pure pleasure, then I would be miserable as a teacher and minister, constantly trying to get my students to listen while becoming easily frustrated and discouraged. Other days when I am uncertain of my calling or frustrated in my job search, I found myself asking if the suffering was worth being faithful when I was unsure about where I was meant to be called. However, I realized that though at times suffering was tough, I felt stronger in my faith because I was able to remember the joy that Jesus brings to us. Perseverance truly plays a strong role in this.

A final point brought up is on P. 8 when Pope Francis opens up with #11, stating “a renewal of preaching can offer believers, as well as the lukewarm and the non-practicing, new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work of evangelization.” On one hand I read this and realize how at times it’s easy for us to dismiss the heart of the message, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, because of how many times we have heard it. It’s nothing new. However, the problem with that mindset is that we do not grow and become closed-minded. Instead, we need to hear it more, especially so that way we can become firm in our faith. We then are able to evangelize, or spread the good news, to those who do not believe in Christ or rejected Him in the past (9). Christ died to save us, He gave his whole life up because He loved us, and He wants us to spread this message of love and hope and even suffering to everyone. By spreading this message and understanding the suffering, we an attain true joy and happiness. We can become Fishers of Men (and women).