From the Bishops Sacraments: What makes us, keeps us Catholic

Mar 12, 2009

Among the comments received from participants after the first series of Why Catholic? meetings last fall was this one: "No one actually asked (or answered) Why am I Catholic? Or why should I be?" It is precisely because these are such important questions for us to be able to answer that we have invited adult Catholics to participate in the Why Catholic? initiative. The fact that the program extends over multiple sessions and multiple months reminds us that the answers to these two questions are multi-faceted for mature Catholics. Exploring the answers with the help of Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church is meant to enrich our understanding, not complicate it.

 

I want to offer an answer to this double question in a few words. The answer is suggested by the topic of the Lenten “Why Catholic?” sessions. Why am I a Catholic? I am a Catholic because I have been incorporated into the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus through participation in the sacraments. Jesus is calling me into a life-giving relationship with him. It is the only way to eternal life. I am not left to wonder whether the call of Jesus to me might only be a figment of my imagination or simply wishful thinking on my part. The call of Jesus is ratified and made explicit in my life through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist.

 

I respond to the Lord's invitation in a very explicit manner by my participation in these sacraments and by following the precepts of the Christian life into which I am incorporated by my sacramental initiation. The church's sacraments are gifts from the Lord himself. When we observe their recognizable matter and form, the Holy Spirit guarantees that we encounter the risen Christ in a personal and powerful way. In this sacramental encounter, Jesus incorporates us into his risen body; he "makes" us Catholic. I am Catholic because of the sacraments.

 

The second part of the question has the same answer. Why should I be Catholic? I should be Catholic because of the sacraments. Membership in the church opens for me a lifelong opportunity to encounter the risen Christ in the sacraments. Remember it is the ongoing incorporation into Christ that saves me from eternal death. While some of the sacraments are received only once, their effects in us are ongoing. To sustain us in meeting the demands of Christian living over a lifetime, the Lord has also provided for us sacraments that can be celebrated often.

 

The opportunity to participate in the sacraments of the Eucharist and of penance and reconciliation are two of the best reasons why I should be Catholic. While I can trust Jesus to be faithful to his loving call to me, I have found repeatedly that I cannot always trust myself to be faithful to him. Even though grace is always available to us who are baptized, I have sinned by what I have done and by what I have failed to do. Still I never have to give up my relationship with Jesus. In the sacrament of penance and reconciliation I receive real forgiveness and healing in the communion of the church. Despite my own best efforts to follow Jesus in the details of daily living, I grow weary and distracted. He gives himself to me for food in the sacrament of the Eucharist. This is the foretaste of the heavenly banquet that enlivens me until the day I am called from this life to the next.

 

The call to participate more actively in the sacramental life of the church is being sounded very clearly in all of our parishes during Lent. While our elect and candidates prepare to celebrate the sacraments at Easter, you and I have many opportunities to come to Mass and to penance and reconciliation. These are the gifts that sustain us in our Catholic faith in response to the call of the risen Jesus.

 

Printed with permission from the Catholic Times.