Sacraments

- Sacraments & Liturgy
  - Sacraments
    
    Baptism
    Eucharist (Holy Communion)
    Marriage
    Reconciliation (Confession)
  - Liturgy

Sacraments

Our community life at St. Joseph Parish is best expressed in our understanding and celebration of the seven catholic sacraments given to us, as people of God, by a loving God. Through these sacramental gifts, God fosters an intimate relationship with each person and the Church worldwide. These sources of spiritual vitality are intimately bound up with our humanness and employ the most common things of earth (water, bread, wine, oil, words of commitment and forgiveness). At the same time, we never lose sight of the reality that sacraments say more about our God than they do about us. Through the sacraments, we encounter a God who: cares for us from the cradle to the grave; binds our faith family together, despite our many flaws; and teaches us the sacredness of the created universe, which is the first “sacrament" of God's existence and presence to us. As a parish, we express our faith through the sacraments as follows:
Baptism and Confirmation: The Church Welcomes Us
The Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are called sacraments of initiation. Through them, we are welcomed into the Church, the Body of Christ. We offer our individual gifts for the enrichment and strength of our entire faith community. These sacraments are made tangible to us through material signs and words of commitment. In the water of baptism we accept our adoption into the family as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:15-17). Accepting the oil of Confirmation on our foreheads, we profess that we are serious about living the “Way” of Jesus Christ and proclaiming it to the world.

Eucharist: The Church Nourishes and Sustains Us
On the night before he died, Jesus gave us the enduring gift of his presence in the form of bread and wine. Through obedience to his instruction to “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19), we make real the invisible presence of the Risen Christ. To be the hands and feet, the eyes and ears of Christ in the world today, we need the regular nourishment and support of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Nourished by Hhis unique presence in this sacrament, we help to build a mature and healthy Church, one that is increasingly able to witness to the life and teachings of Christ in our world.

Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick: The Church Heals
The Lord never abandons us, even when we fall short of being our best selves. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he restores us to spiritual well-being. We receive the priest’s words of absolution and know that we are in harmony with God, ourselves, and all people of God. Newly reconciled, we renew our commitment to building up the Body of Christ on earth.

Nor are we alone when weakened physically through illness or psychologically through mental torment. Through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Church restores us to wholeness in Christ. Anointing helps us to accept our limitations and offer them as a gift to the entire Church.

Matrimony and Holy Orders: The Church Provides for the Future
The Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders ensure that the Body of Christ in the world today will continue into the future. The Church blesses married couples and welcomes their love as a symbol of the love that the Risen Christ has for his Church. The Sacrament of Matrimony is unique, in that the bride and groom confer this sacrament on each other. The Catholic community’s official representative and witness to the exchange of vows is a bishop, priest, or designated deacon.

Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the Church provides dedicated leadership for the continuation of the faith community and the celebration of sacraments. A bishop, representing the entire Catholic community, calls the one who is being ordained to faithful serve to the People of God. The gifts that married couples and ordained ministers bring to the Church from generation to generation are obvious. There would be no Catholic Church without people of faith.

Being Christ in the World.
Catholics receive the sacraments in order to graft our lives to the life of the Risen Christ. These gifts are not just for our own benefit, but for the sake of everyone in the world who needs love, nourishment, healing, compassion, and forgiveness.