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SACRAMENTS

BAPTISM

Through this Sacrament we are washed of our sins.  We receive the most important grace for our salvation and God adopts us as his children. We are invited to change our lives and to live as true children of God, recognizing God as Father.  Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are incorporated into his Church and we commit ourselves to be faithful to God and to serve our brothers and sisters.

Community Baptisms

In community baptisms a certain number of children are baptized.  The beauty of community baptisms is that they are a true and clear expression of the universality of the Church that brings together all kinds of people and various families who profess the same faith and celebrate one Baptism.

Private Baptisms

Private baptisms sound like something very exclusive VIP and in reality they are. In many churches they have been omitted due to a shortage of ministers or the saturation of parish activities. It is the same celebration of Baptism that is done for several children, only with the comfort of being accompanied by my guests and loved ones.  Private Baptism neither adds nor detracts from grace and meaning. God’s grace acts in the same way in both private and communal baptisms.

PENANCE (aka Confession)

The sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick are known as sacraments of healing. Both sacraments produce healing of the soul, mind and body, that is, the whole human person.

This sacrament is also known as the sacrament of Reconciliation or the Confession of sins.  The Catechism of the Church, quoting Lumen Gentium, tells us: “Those who approach the sacrament of penance obtain from God’s mercy the forgiveness of sins committed against him and, at the same time, are reconciled with the Church, whom they have offended by their sins. She moves them to conversion by her love, her example and her prayers” (LG 11) (1422).

Who can approach the sacrament of Penance?

Every baptized person with the use of reason who has fallen into sin and offended God with his or her bad actions needs to come forward to ask God for forgiveness and be reconciled with the Church, through this Sacrament.  Those who are about to make their First Communion should approach the Sacrament of Penance before receiving the Eucharist.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION

Have sufficient use of reason to acknowledge sins and ask for forgiveness.
Examine one’s conscience.
To feel repugnance for wrongdoing or to feel ashamed of one’s sins.
To ask God for forgiveness from the bottom of one’s heart.
To make a promise not to sin anymore and to stay away from sinful situations.
Confess sins to the Priest.
Receive absolution of our sins from the priest.
Make reparation for the harm done if possible and do works of mercy.
Cultivate a spirit of prayer and penance.

EUCHARIST

It is the third of the sacraments of Christian initiation.  The Eucharist is also called the Mass, or the Breaking of Bread.  The Mass is the celebration of the Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ.  In the Eucharist we are invited to participate in the Banquet of the Lord Jesus in which he gives us to eat his Body and drink his Blood in order to have life in us.  Moreover, he invites us to continue to do so ourselves as a memorial of him.   When a person receives the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time, we say that he or she “made his or her First Communion.”  A person can and should Eucharist as often as he or she can.  Unlike Baptism and Confirmation which are received only once, the Eucharist can be received throughout life and as often as necessary.

Who can receive the Eucharist?

Every baptized Catholic with sufficient use of reason who is spiritually prepared.  The Catechism of the Church teaches: “The Church obliges the faithful “to participate in the divine liturgy on Sundays and feast days” (cf. OE 15) and to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible in the Easter season (cf. CCC can. 920), prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation. But the Church strongly recommends the faithful to receive the Holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or even more frequently, even every day” (1389).

Link: https://youtu.be/cM6_Y6NZoyM

REQUIREMENTS:

+Be a baptized member of the Catholic Church.

If you have already made your First Communion:

Persons should examine their conscience before approaching communion and go to confession frequently to be free from mortal sins.

If he/she has not made his/her First Communion:

The Person must attend a Catechesis program for either adults or children.  This program lasts for two years.

Our catechesis can be done online from the comfort of your home.  Even if you have not made your First Communion it is important that you begin to cultivate personal prayer and meditation on the Word of God.

Link

 

CONFIRMATION

This sacrament is part of the three sacraments of Christian initiation along with Baptism and the Eucharist.  The Church teaches us that the reception of this sacrament is necessary for the fullness of baptismal grace. (CCC 1285).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that in the Sacrament of Confirmation the fullness of Baptismal grace is attained, because in this sacrament it is the Spirit himself who performs the work in fullness. In the Sacrament of Confirmation we are given the Holy Spirit who empowers us for the Mission of the Church, gives us the strength to witness to the Living Christ.

Who can receive it?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: “Every baptized person, not yet confirmed, can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation (CCC889, 1).  Since Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist form a unity, it follows that ‘the faithful are obliged to receive this sacrament in due time’ (CCC, 890), for without Confirmation and Eucharist, the sacrament of Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.”(1306)

REQUIREMENTS:
To have validly received Baptism.
To participate willingly in the two-year catechetical program.
Show interest in knowing and deepening the content of the Catholic faith.
Attend Mass on Sundays.
Be able to demonstrate that he/she has understood and is convinced of his/her Catholic faith.
Invite a sponsor to accompany him/her in his/her faith journey.

MATRIMONY

The Catechism of the Church teaches us: “1601 “The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form a lifelong partnership between themselves, ordered by its very nature to the good of the spouses and to the generation and education of offspring, was raised by Christ our Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized” (CCC can. 1055, §1).

Marriage in the order of creation

1603 “The intimate community of conjugal life and love is founded by the Creator and provided with its own laws. [God himself is the author of marriage” (GS 48:1). The vocation to marriage is inscribed in the very nature of man and woman, as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution, despite the many variations it has undergone over the centuries in different cultures, social structures and spiritual attitudes. These diversities should not make us forget its common and permanent features. Although the dignity of this institution is not always equally clear (cf. GS 47:2), there exists in all cultures a certain sense of the greatness of the marital union. “The salvation of the person and of human and Christian society is closely linked to the prosperity of the conjugal and family community” (GS 47:1).

1604 God, who created man out of love, also called him to love, the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:2), who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8,16). God having created them male and female, the mutual love between them becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. This love is good, very good, in the eyes of the Creator (cf. Gen 1:31). And this love that God blesses is destined to be fruitful and to be fulfilled in the common work of caring for creation. “And God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it'” (Gen 1:28).

Marriage under the slavery of sin

1606 Every person, both in his environment and in his own heart, experiences evil. This experience is also felt in the relationship between man and woman. At all times, the union of man and woman is threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy and conflicts that can lead to hatred and rupture. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome, according to cultures, times, individuals, but it always appears as something of a universal character.

1607 According to faith, this disorder, which we painfully note, does not originate in the nature of man and woman, nor in the nature of their relationships, but in sin. The first sin, rupture with God, has as its first consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman. Their relations are distorted by reciprocal grievances (cf. Gen 3:12); their mutual attraction, a gift of the Creator (cf. Gen 2:22), is changed into relations of dominion and concupiscence (cf. Gen 3:16); the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, to multiply and subdue the earth (cf. Gen 1:28) is subjected to the pains of childbirth and the efforts to earn bread (cf. Gen 3:16-19).

Who can receive the sacrament of Matrimony?

1625 The protagonists of the marriage covenant are a baptized man and a baptized woman who are free to enter into marriage and who freely express their consent. “To be free” means:

– not to act under coercion;
– not to be impeded by natural or ecclesiastical law.

LINK: https://youtu.be/eNKVNvAK5_s

1626 The Church considers the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element “which makes marriage” (CIC can. 1057 §1). If consent is lacking, there is no marriage.

1627 Consent consists of “a human act by which the spouses give and receive each other” (GS 48,1; cf. CIC can. 1057 §2): “I receive you as my wife” – “I receive you as my husband” (Ritual of the Celebration of Marriage, 62). This consent which unites the spouses to each other finds its fullness in the fact that the two “become one flesh” (cf Gen 2:24; Mk 10:8; Eph 5:31).

REQUIREMENTS:

Be validly baptized, both or at least one of the spouses.
To be unmarried and free to marry.
Not to have any impediment to marry of those that mark the Canon Law.
Present documents such as Marriage Certificate to the Cilvil or License to marry.
One witness for each of the contracting parties.
Sign the contracts of presentation and meet with the priest of your parish.
Receive a series of catechesis or premarital talks.
It is suggested that people do not make reservations for other services until they are sure they have their wedding date secured at their parish.

LINK:
https://youtu.be/uq2RDYlOLrs

HOLY ORDERS

This is the sacrament that makes priests or presbyters of the Church.  The Catechism of the Church tells us: “Holy Orders and Marriage are ordered to the salvation of others. They certainly contribute to their own salvation, but they do this by the service they render to others. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve the edification of the People of God” (1534). It comprises three degrees: the episcopate, the presbyterate and the diaconate.

REQUIREMENTS:

Be baptized and have received the sacraments of Christian initiation.
Consult with your parish priest.
Contact the vocation office of your diocese. Request to the Bishop his desire to become a priest.
Receive the academic, human, spiritual and pastoral formation necessary for a priestly vocation.
Enjoy the good reputation and support of the church community.

The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred only to men through the rite of Ordination or Ordenatio in Latin.  This sacrament confers the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives you the grace to clothe the person who receives it with another Christ, to perform the works of Christ for the salvation of souls.

To learn more about priestly vocation or religious life consult

Diocese of Oakland-Vocations

 

Who may receive the sacrament of Holy Orders?

Any man who feels the call or vocation to consecrate or dedicate his life exclusively to the service of Christ; who desires to renounce his personal possessions to which he is entitled as a person in order to give priority to the saving mission of Christ and the Church.

This is what the Catechism of the Church tells us: “1577 “Only the baptized male (vir) validly receives sacred ordination” (CCC can 1024). The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve Apostles (cf. Mk 3:14-19; Lk 6:12-16), and the Apostles did the same when they chose their collaborators (1 Tim 3:1-13; 2 Tim 1:6; Tit 1:5-9) who would succeed them in their task (St. Clement Romanus, Epistula ad Corinthios 42:4; 44:3). The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes present and actualizes the college of the Twelve until the return of Christ. The Church is bound by this decision of the Lord. This is the reason why women do not receive ordination (cf. John Paul II, Mulieris Dignitatem, 26-27; Id., Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Decl. Inter insigniores; Id. “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”).

1579 All ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are ordinarily chosen from among believing men who live as celibates and who have the will to keep celibacy “for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:12). Called to consecrate themselves totally to the Lord and to his “things” (cf. 1 Cor 7:32), they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the minister of the Church is consecrated; accepted with a joyful heart, it radiantly announces the Kingdom of God (cf. PO 16).

ANOINTING OF THE SICK

This Sacrament is within the group of the sacraments of healing.  The letter of St. James assures us that prayer made in faith will heal the sick and if they have committed sins they will be forgiven.

“With the sacred anointing of the sick and with the prayer of the priests, the whole Church commends the sick to the suffering and glorified Lord for relief and salvation. She even encourages them to unite themselves freely to the passion and death of Christ and thus contribute to the good of the People of God” (LG 11).

“This holy anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as a sacrament of the New Testament, true and proper, hinted at by Mark (cf Mk 6:13), and recommended to the faithful and promulgated by James, apostle and brother of the Lord” (Council of Trent: DS 1695, cf Jas 5:14-15).

The Catechism teaches us: 1514 The Anointing of the Sick “is not a sacrament only for those who are about to die. For this reason, it is considered an opportune time to receive it when the faithful begin to be in danger of death through sickness or old age. “1515 If a sick person who received the anointing recovers his health, he may, in the case of a new serious illness, receive this sacrament again. In the course of the same illness, the sacrament may be repeated if the illness worsens. It is appropriate to receive the Anointing of the Sick before a major operation. And the same may apply to persons of advanced age whose strength is weakening.

Who can receive this sacrament?

Anyone who has been baptized regardless of age.

REQUIREMENTS
To be baptized.
Request the Sacrament of Anointing
To be in delicate health situation due to illness or advanced age.
It can only be administered by the Priest or Bishop.