September 17, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/30/2024
“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles…Everyday they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And everyday the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-43, 46-47).
Continuing our reflection on the sacraments, we recall our working definition: effective signs of God’s grace, instituted by Christ, celebrated by the Church, for the salvation of souls. Last week we looked at what it means that the sacraments are instituted by Christ, that they have their roots in Christ’s life, death, words and actions. This week we look at what it means to say that they are celebrated by the Church.
This means more than the obvious fact that the sacraments are celebrated by the faith community. “Church” in this context means Church with a capital “C”, the Mystical Body of Christ enfleshed in the entire body of all the Christian faithful, past and present, on earth and in glory in heaven, ordered together under the authority ot the apostles continued today in the ministry of the bishops in communion with the bishop of Rome, the pope. The sacraments are celebrated by the Church in that sense.
This means two things. First, it means that, even when a sacrament is celebrated between two people, like sacramental confession, it is a celebration of the entire Church, because we are always united with each other as members of Christ’s Body, the Church. As St. Paul says, “When one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:26). The grace of all celebrations of the sacraments benefit the entire Church, not just the people directly celebrating them.
The other meaning of this is that, as celebrations of the Church, the Church alone has the authority to celebrate them and to determine how to do so. No individual within or outside of the Church has that authority, nor does any individual have the authority to change the sacraments or how they are celebrated. The sacraments do not belong to individuals but to the Church, who directs how they are celebrated through the approved ritual books.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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