SACRAMENTS REVIEW
Essential understandings required for the sacraments:
The Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity along with the Father and the Son.
The Sacrament of Baptism where we first receive the Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and within the Church.
The sealing with the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The gifts and fruits of the Spirit and how we are called to be witnesses and disciples. The seven gifts (received at Baptism and are strengthened with them in Confirmation) are: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord. The nine fruits (signs or manifestations that our lives are being transformed by God) are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
God’s greatest gift to us is Jesus his Son and we recognizing God’s unconditional love for us.
At Mass we give God thanks and praise. The Eucharistic Liturgy is an act of worship in which the Church and all her members are associated with Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross for all. God speaks to us through the Liturgy of the Word. Real presence - The bread and wine are not merely blessed symbols, but “by the power of the Holy Spirit”, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. Christ Himself is truly present.
The Holy Spirit acts in our lives, and Eucharist enriches us to use our gifts in service of others.
