Sacramental Life

 

Sacramental life, or life tuned to the sacraments, involves three sacraments and two major holidays. The sacraments of Baptism, Communion, and last rites, and the holidays of Christmas and Easter fine-tune one's life to a religious meditation. Living with these sacraments and holidays in mind helps one to center one's life on hope in Jesus. 

Baptism, the very first sacrament of Christian initiation, marks one's personal rebirth in Christ and is one's own personal Christmas Eve. At Baptism, your life in Christ begins. You are born again. The day of your Baptism, you are reborn into the body of Christ. Whether your parents baptised you as an infant or you choose to be baptised as an adult, it is as if you filled out a shipping label and paid the postage for your return to God, Creator of Creation. Every Christmas, recall that you are baptized, you are Christ's, and you are saved.

After the sacrament of Baptism, as you go through your life, you enter into communion with the Church and you receive the Sacrament of Communion. Whether you marry or stay single, whether you get ordained or remain just a member of Christ's body, your life is the celebration of communion. As you go through your days, weeks, months, and years, celebrate communion and remember you are baptised. You are part of Christ's Body. You are Saved.

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection. Let every Easter season be a reminder that you have the promises of Jesus, and you will be restored to life after death. Jesus not only resurrected the dead like Lazerous, but also raised himself from the grave to life. He is eternal, King Forever, Heavenly Father. His promises were made to you at Baptism with the final gift of last rites, sealing the gift package with the promise of your own resurrection to life without end. 

This summer, why not purchase and read a Bible? It is a historic, fabled tale too good to be true. If you can believe it, it promises the benefits of a living God and his blessings, and life without end. The only requirement is to believe and receive the new life offered as a believer. If you can accept the story, you will want to get baptised, join a church, receive communion, and celebrate Christmas and Easter. If not, you will have at least read the greatest story ever told. What else do you have planned this summer?