Affirmation then additional strengthens this bond with Christ. The sacrament causes grace to move via us extra readily. It provides us the graces to remain devoted and convey Christ’s phrase to others. By receiving this oil on our foreheads, our minds are extra carefully linked to the thoughts of Christ giving us the presents of knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, data, piety, and concern of the Lord. Most of those are presents of the thoughts, represented by the oil on brow. However Christ knew that typically we might break this reference to Him. And so, He gave us confession to heal (venial sins) or restore (ethical sins) this connection. We rejected the authority of Christ by sinning. So, we meet with somebody who’s a bodily picture of Christ’s authority on Earth. The priest blesses us together with his fingers outstretched over us. Performing in persona Christi, the priest connects us to Christ’s merciful mild pouring forth from his wounds in heaven.
And after we are at dying’s door, the Church provides us a sacrament to strengthen our reference to Christ as we put together to go past the Veil and be linked to Him for eternity. Because the priest anoints our physique, our complete particular person is linked to Christ’s physique which is the supply of life. Being linked to the supply of life leads us to both our everlasting life or our bodily therapeutic.
Marriage creates a brand new connection between a pair with Christ. The husband and spouse develop into a residing picture of the wedding of Christ and his Church. And once they love each other, that couple participates within the interior lifetime of Christ’s love for His Church and the Church’s reception of Jesus’s reward. Christ’s love for His Church flows out from His Physique to His Bride who receives His reward. This very reciprocal love turns into the couple’s love. Monks, by receiving the anointing of Holy Orders, develop into an actual picture of Christ to the world. Whereas all Christ’s individuals picture Christ to the world, a priest acts “in persona Christi,” when he administers the sacraments. After we see the priest’s physique administering a sacrament, we see Christ’s physique via him.
And eventually, the Eucharist strengthens much more deeply our reference to Christ. By receiving Christ’s very Physique into our physique, His Divine Life is infused into our whole being. No two human individuals may be so equally shut, as we’re with Christ after we obtain Him into us.
He not solely dwells inside us, however his Divine Life is infused all through our physique within the energy of the Holy Spirit.
It’s troublesome to all the time keep in mind the reality of those religious realities. By every of those sacraments, our our bodies are linked to Christ’s physique. He actually is the vine, and we’re the branches. I pray every of us would possibly keep in mind the reality of this actuality after we dwell our sacramental life.
