Intro to Sacraments

Sacramental Imagination

Constant recognition of the presence of heavenly and spiritual realities behind physical things

External Signs

Needed for humans due to weak memories and divided attention

Original Holiness

Initial communion/sharing in God's life before the fall

Original Justice

Initial right relationship between humans, God, each other, and nature before the fall

Preternatural Gifts

Special gifts given by God before the fall (immortality, infused knowledge, integrity)

God's Goals for Humanity

Dominion and communion

The Fall

The first sin, autonomy, wanting to be our own gods

Effects of the Fall

Original sin, four alienations, D.I.S.C. ( death, ignorance, suffering, concupiscence)

Jesus' Address to the Effects of the Fall

Saving minds, bodies, and souls through his life, death and resurrection... but how?? :)

Purpose of Sacraments

Accessing the gifts/graces of Jesus' saving works and communion with God

Definition of a Sacrament

An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which the divine life of grace is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit

Efficacious Sign

Actually does what it looks like it's doing. It doesn't just say "you should do this." It does the thing.

Origin of the Term 'Sacrament'

From the Latin sacramentum, an oath taken by a Roman soldier

Sanctifying Grace

The Holy Spirit/God dwelling in my soul... given by the sacraments

Actual Grace

God's interventions and support for us in the everyday moments of our lives

Justification

Process of being made righteous/holy before God... aka sanctification for catholics

Heaven

Eternal communion with God and the blessed

Hell

Definitive self-exclusion from God

Purgatory

Final purification before heaven

Particular Judgment

Judgment of a human soul at the time of death

Final Judgment

Public judgment of every human being at the end of the world

Jesus as a Sacrament

He is a visible sign of the invisible heart of God, gives God's grace to people

The Church as a Sacrament

Visible sign of God's action in the world, gives God's grace to people

Sacramentals

Objects, actions, and blessings that help us grow in holiness... they don't communicate grace but they promote us to seek it.

ACTS as a form of prayer

1. Adoration (Blessing God's Name)
2. Contrition (Saying I'm sorry)
3. Thanksgiving
4. Supplication (Intentions)

Vocal Prayer

A form of prayer in which the mind, heart, and mouth combine to give thanks and adoration to God

Meditative Prayer

The form of prayer which engages our thought, imagination and emotion to better understand the convictions of our faith and to respond to what the Lord is asking of us

Contemplative Prayer

"A gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus" and the mysteries of His life. It is placing oneself in God's presence and resting there in His love.

Alienations

Man v. Man, Man v. God, Man v. Nature, Man v. Self

D.I.S.C.

Death, Ignorance, Suffering, Concupiscence

Concupiscence

A gravity toward sin found in all humans.

Original Sin

The fallen state of human nature into which all generations of people are born... a disease in our spiritual DNA