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PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format) and .ppt (Microsoft PowerPoint Format) files of the presentation for this session are available for download from the Eucharist Home Page and the Download page.
Topics 1. Traditional Sacramental Theology 1.1. Introduction. Word versus Sacrament 1.2. Outward Sign, Inward Grace 1.2.3. The Outward and Visible Sign 1.2.4. The Inward and Spiritual Grace or Res 1.3. Regular versus Valid Sacraments
2. The Sacramental View of Reality 2.2. The Sacramental View and Intimations of Immortality and Beauty
3. Modern Sacramental Theology 3.1. A Broader Definition of Sacrament 3.2. Creation as a Sacrament of God 3.3. Jesus as Primordial Sacrament 3.4. Church as Fundamental Sacrament 3.5. Christians as Living Sacraments 3.6. The Sacramental Economy of Salvation
1. Traditional Sacramental Theology 1.1. Introduction. Word versus Sacrament Word and Sacrament We often say that participation in "Word" and "Sacrament" is the means to salvation.
By "Word" we mean
It:
By "Sacrament," we refer to:
It:
1.2. Outward Sign, Inward Grace 1.2.1. Introduction A sacrament involves:
that is a conduit for
1.2.2. Ex Opere Operato The imparting of grace is said to be ex opere operato, meaning:
1.2.3. The Outward and Visible Sign The “Outward and Visible Sign” consists of two parts: matter, and form: 1. Matter -- the material substance used
2. Form -- ritual action, formula of words
1.2.4. The Inward and Spiritual Grace or Res The “Inward and Spiritual Grace” = “res” refers to the presence of God (see Survey of Theology 6. The Doctrine of Human Nature, Sin, and Grace for further discussion of grace). The grace imparted in a sacrament is sometimes spoken of as having two facets:
1.3. Regular versus Valid Sacraments A sacrament is regular if performed according to the canons and laws of the Church. If it is not performed according to the canons and laws of the Church, it is termed irregular. Regularity is a matter of Church discipline
A sacrament is valid when all the theological conditions required for the sacrament are fulfilled
Validity is a matter of Church doctrine and theology.
One can have a valid sacrament, that is, a sacrament that meets all three theological, doctrinal conditions for a sacrament, that is none the less irregular, because it does not satisfy an additional canon law requirement.
1.4. The Number of Sacraments The number of sacraments has varied through the history of the church and among its denominations:
2. The Sacramental View of Reality To simplify for sake of making clear a contrast, one might say there are three basic views of reality:
2.2. The Sacramental View and Intimations of Immortality and Beauty
“Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit round and plunk blackberries.” - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“To me, the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears” - William Wordsworth (last lines of Intimations of Immortality)
... For I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes The still, sad music of humanity, Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power To chasten and subdue. And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. ... - William Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey, lines 88-102
The Sacramental View of Reality recognizes the duality of our experience in this world:
It can explain this duality:
3. Modern Sacramental Theology 3.1. A Broader Definition of Sacrament Based on the sacramental view of reality, modern sacramental theology has broadened the definition of a sacrament.
Note: A sense of this view of a sacrament has always been present in the Church. The Greek term mysterion refers to the experience of some higher, spiritual power. Eastern Orthodoxy sometimes calls the seven traditional sacraments the seven “mysteries”
Using this broader definition, modern theologians have spoken of:
3.2. Creation as a Sacrament of God “The Heavens announce the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” - Psalm 19
“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature – eternal power and divine character – have been clearly perceptible through what he has made” - Romans 1:19-20
“Nothing is a vacuum in the face of God. Everything is a sign of God.” St. Irenaeus
“The mystics offer us the best proof of this. St. Francis of Assisi immersed himself so deeply in the mystery of God that suddenly he found everything transfigured. Everything spoke to him of God and Christ: the worms along the wayside; the lambs in the field; the birds in the trees; fire, and death, which he came to call Sister Death” - Leonardo Boff (Brazilian Liberation theologian)
3.3. Jesus as Primordial Sacrament Edward Schillebeeckx, in Christ the Sacrament 1963 called Jesus in his humanity the primordial sacrament of God, because:
“The man Jesus, as the personal visible realization of the divine grace of redemption, is the sacrament, the primordial sacrament, because this man, the Son of God himself, is intended by the Father to be in his humanity the only way to the actuality of redemption” - Edward Schillebeeckx
Macquarrie suggests Jesus is better termed “a supersacrament", a unique manifestation in visible form of the authentic life of God.” Jesus, the supersacrament, is:
“One might hear the word “baptism”, and think immediately of water. One might hear the word “unction”, and think immediately of oil. One might hear the word “eucharist”, and think immediately of bread and wine…but when one hears the word “baptism”, one should think of Jesus, when one hears the word “unction”, one should think of Jesus, when one hears the word “eucharist,” one should think of Jesus, and so on.” - Kenan Osborne (Franciscan theologian)
The special graces of Jesus acting in the life of the recipient:
(table modified from Macquarrie, Osborne)
3.4. Church as Fundamental Sacrament The Church is called to be a visible presence of God’s will for Humanity and Creation. That is to day, the Church is called to be Christ present in the world.
“Now the Church is the continuance, the contemporary presence, of that real, eschatologically triumphant and irrevocably established presence in the world, in Christ, of God’s salvific will. . . . By the very fact of being … the enduring presence of Christ in the world, the Church is truly the fundamental sacrament, the well-spring of the sacraments in the strict sense.” - Karl Rahner
3.5. Christians as Living Sacraments
“…when any one of us chooses to act as Jesus was known to act, we too become living sacraments in our world. When I forgive my brother or sister from my heart, I become a sacrament of forgiveness; I unveil the face of God who forgives, just as Jesus himself did.” Beguerie and Duchesneau, How to Understand the Sacraments
3.6. The Sacramental Economy of Salvation (from Noll) Jesus, Primordial Sacrament
The Church, Fundamental Sacrament
The Seven Traditional Sacraments
Christians as Living Sacraments
The information in these notes comes from the following references:
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