Necessity of the Sacraments

We need the sacraments because they sanctify, build up the Church, and help us to worship God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a good definition of the sacraments,

“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). What this means is that they are ways given to the Church by Christ for us to receive His grace. These sacraments are ways for us to receive God’s grace. They also allow us to grow and express our faith. The reason that they are needed is because we need God in our lives, and these sacraments are ways that we can visually see God working in our lives and dispensing grace, and the very act of celebrating them disposes the faithful most effectively to receive this grace in a much more beneficial way, to worship God rightly, and to practice charity. The reason we need God’s grace, is because without it we cannot be truly in communion with Him. For instance, without baptism, we are not truly incorporated into the body of Christ so therefore we would never be able to be saved. In conclusion, without the sacraments we would not be able to actively be incorporated into the body of Christ without the sacraments, and without that we would not be able to be saved.

Image of Eucharist found here

The Church and the Faithful

At first glance, someone would probably say that, of course the Church plays a huge role in the lives of the faithful, and they would be right. However, a lot of the time now people have started ignoring the Church. This may not be a conscious effort of someone saying, I don't really want to deal with the Church, it could just turn out that someone gets busy and stops all Church activities. This in no way, can ever be a good thing. This is because the Church is the basis through which Catholics receive God's grace. Through the teachings of the Church, and the sacraments. This means that to truly be Catholic and to receive God's grace the Church must be a huge part of that persons life. If the Church is just reduced to a minor role, then its like saying that God is just an afterthought, or saying that other worldly things are more important than God. If this is true to someone, then they aren't a true Catholic. So for someone to be able to fully receive God's grace, they have to put God and His Church first in their lives, or else they cannot spiritually prosper.

Original Image found here

Service

Now, I will be the first to admit that, on my own I never would have even considered doing service. The reason for this is just selfishness on my part. I thought that it was just a boring waste of my time, but after all my hours of service I've had to put in I have realized that service is actually a fun thing to do. Also, service is something that is a hugely important part of Catholicism because service is the act of helping the children of God that truly are in need. This is the example that Christ left for us, so we should always strive to do as Christ did. So all in all, thanks to the service that I've had to do, I've learned that service will never be a waste of my time, and I hope to be able to continue to do it even outside of the requirements.

found here

Pope Francis

I know I may be a little late to make my comments on his election as the new pope, but I still think that it is necessary for me to voice my opinion. As it turns out, it seems to me that pope Francis is trying to create a new more modest style within the Church. What I mean by this is that pope Francis wants to take some of his previous ways from Argentina to Vatican City. When pope Francis preached in Argentina, he decided to live frugally, and take the bus to the cathedral. He took these ideas to the Vatican, and declined the glorious papal apartments. It seems most likely that there is more to come from this. All in all, I believe that nothing but good can come from these small changes.

image of the papal appartments, found here