Sacrament is a Church word applied to certain ritual encounters which make visible and are able to be experienced, God’s interaction with us. Sacraments invite us, as do all encounters, to discover and respond to life’s meaning through God revealed uniquely in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the “sacrament of God-among-us”, that is, he makes God visible and active.
The Church is the Body of Christ. We, as the Church, are challenged to become a “sacrament”, that is a visible and active presence of Christ to the world.
Whilst we find God revealed in so many ways in our lives, our celebrations of the sacraments visibly proclaim God as active and present:
- we come together as Church to recognize, participate in and celebrate God’s presence and action in our lives.
- we celebrate our unity and mission as the Body of Christ for ourselves and our world.
Hence, we never receive a sacrament, rather
– we celebrate it
– we participate in it
– we live it