Day 152: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi (1122-1126)

• It’s Day 152!!

• THE SACRAMENTS OF FAITH

• What is the purpose of the Sacraments?

• Paragraph 1123 says, “‘The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God…’”

• REMEMBER THIS!!

• They are not just rites and rituals that are EMPTY

• They are NOT MEANT TO BE HOLLOW

• They are not just simply things we repeat over and over again because they are common to us

• THE PURPOSE OF THE SACRAMENTS IS TO SANCTIFY MEN, TO BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST AND, FINALLY, TO GIVE WORSHIP TO GOD!!

• THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE FOR!!

• THIS IS WHAT THEY DO!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Why?

• Because as often as we approach the Sacraments, THOSE THREE THINGS HAPPEN

• When we participate in the Sacraments, THOSE THREE THINGS HAPPEN

• THE WORLD IS SANCTIFIED…

• THE CHURCH IS BUILT UP…

• AND GOD IS GLORIFIED!!

• Let’s call upon the Holy Spirit and pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you. We ask that you please help us to participate in the Sacraments in such a way that yes, this world is sanctified, that we are sanctified. That your Church, the Body of Christ, is built up and strengthened and mobilized. We also pray that you may be glorified above all in everything, Father. May you be known. May you be loved. May you be worshiped. May we give our hearts to you the way you have given your heart to us. Help us love you the way you love us. Help us love each other the way you have called us to. And help us to be yours. Help us to respond and walk in faith. Help us to do this in every moment of our lives and particularly help us to do this when we encounter you in your Sacraments. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• THIS IS PRETTY REMARKABLE!!

• If you are interested in evangelization, it seems like there has been a resurgence

• We are praying for a NEW PENTECOST

• We are praying for the NEW EVANGELIZATION

• What is evangelization?

• IT IS THE PROCLAIMING OF THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!

• EUANGELION is GOOD NEWS

• Remember what Jesus said at the GREAT COMMISION, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”

• Making disciples is part of the evangelization

• He continues, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

• Jesus HIMSELF connects the mission to EVANGELIZE with the mission to BAPTIZE

• THE SACRAMENTAL MISSION!!

• GO MAKE DISCIPLES AND HAVE BAPTISM

• There is this ABSOLUTE CONNECTION

• Pope Paul VI wrote the encyclical EVANGELII NUNTIANDI which means EVANGELIZATION IN THE MODERN WORLD

• He makes it very clear that not only do we proclaim the Gospel in evangelization

• We proclaim Jesus as Lord and what He has done for us

• THAT IS IMPORTANT!!

• IT IS NECESSARY!!

• BUT…

• Evangelization is INCOMPLETE unless it also involves THE SACRAMENTS

• Not just because Pope Paul VI says so

• This is completely implied if not overtly stated in The Gospel of Matthew when Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

• There is this DEEP AND POWERFUL CONNECTION between evangelization and the Sacraments

• SO IMPORTANT!!

• Why?

• Because the Sacraments are there to bring the very SAVING ACTION OF JESUS present to us

• THEY SANCTIFY US!!

• THEY BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST!!

• THEY GIVE WORSHIP TO GOD!!

• What are TWO THINGS that the Mass always does?

• What are TWO THINGS that the Eucharistic Liturgy always accomplishes?

• If you’ve gone to Mass before, you know the answer

• What are two things that happen at EVERY SINGLE MASS?

• You can tell word for word IN UNISON with everyone here what it is

• “Pray, my brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.”

• We say, “May the Lord accept the Sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of His Name, for our good, and the good of all His Holy Church.”

• THAT’S IT!!

• THOSE ARE THE TWO PURPOSES!!

• God is glorified

• The holiness of all the Church

• The world is sanctified

• This happens at EVERY SINGLE MASS

• The purpose of the Sacraments are those three things

• SANCTIFY PEOPLE

• BUILD UP THE BODY

• GIVE WORSHIP TO GOD

• Does that make sense?

• When we approach the Sacraments, we have a degree of faith

• The Sacraments DO something

• They PRESUPPOSE faith

• BUT…

• When we come to the Sacraments again and again they NOURISH, STRENGTHEN, AND EXPRESS OUR FAITH

• You may struggle to trust the Lord and handing your heart over to Him

• So what do you do?

• You pray and wrestle with it

• BUT…

• People sometimes bring that to the Sacrament of Reconciliation

• YES!!

• THIS IS EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING!!

• The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a SACRAMENT OF TRUST

• Maybe THE GOD that you are struggling to TRUST is the one that you TRUST WITH YOUR SIN

• The God that you are struggling to rely on and lean into that in every Confession you ARE relying on and leaning into

• Maybe you struggle with despair and hope

• Maybe you are tired of this battle

• Maybe you are tired of your weakness

• Maybe you are tired of your own sins

• Maybe you are tired of all of it

• You might wrestle with despair

• Going to Confession is CHOOSING HOPE

• If you wrestle with TRUST, choosing Confession is CHOOSING TO TRUST

• If you wrestle with DESPAIR, choosing Confession is CHOOSING HOPE

• Paragraph 1123 says, “[The Sacraments] not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express [our faith].”

• Maybe you don’t feel like you love the Lord

• GO TO MASS!!

• The Mass is the MOST INCREDIBLE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US

• Especially if we don’t feel it, there is something POWERFUL that happens

• Why?

• While love can be a feeling, love is MORE than a feeling

• There was a rock band that got that right… (Ooooh it’s been a long time since I got to do this!! Boston - More Than a Feeling (Official HD Video) 😃)

• LOVE IS MORE THAN JUST A FEELING!!

• LOVE IS ACTION!!

• It’s NOT just AFFECTION

• Love is EFFECTIVE

• LOVE DOES SOMETHING!!

• When we go to Mass and our hearts are feeling low…

• “Ok, God. I am choosing to love you. I am choosing to worship you. This is the Eucharist. This is the Sacrament of love. I’m choosing to love you as you have asked me to love you. I am choosing to worship you as you have asked me to worship you.”

• When we enter into those Sacraments, they not only presuppose our faith…

• They NOURISH our faith

• They STRENGTHEN our faith

• They EXPRESS our faith

• This is why it is SO IMPORTANT that we DO NOT STAY AWAY FROM THE SACRAMENTS WHEN WE ARE STRUGGLING

• WE ENTER INTO THE SACRAMENTS!!

• There is this principle: LEX ORANDI, LEX CREDENDI

• This means THE LAW OF PRAYER IS THE LAW OF FAITH

• THE CHURCH BELIEVES AS SHE PRAYS

• We have SACRED SCRIPTURE

• We have SACRED TRADITION

• We have THE LITURGY

• Paragraph 1124 says, “Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition.”

• It’s not just an add-on

• How we BELIEVE is how we PRAY

• How we PRAY is how we BELIEVE

• Hopefully that makes sense!!

• Paragraph 1125 says, “For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community.”

• What does that mean?

• Here in the West we have The Roman Missal

• It gives regulations on how the Liturgy of the Eucharist is to be celebrated

• Your actions are written in RED and what you say is written in BLACK

• You DO the RED

• You SAY the BLACK

• That Sacramental Rite has been given to us by the Church

• It may not be modified or manipulated by the minister

• The priest can’t decide to do something different on Sunday

• The community can’t decide to do something different on Sunday

• Why?

• Not because the Church wants to be overly controlling

• LEX ORANDI, LEX CREDENDI

• The law of PRAYER is the law of BELIEF

• We can’t change something in how we pray without possible expressing a change in belief

• Let’s try this example

• Look at the Alb, a piece of liturgical clothing

• It is the white robe worn underneath the chasuble

• Servers might wear a white alb

• You can also wear a cassock

• When it’s the alb, it is white for a reason

• If you read The Book of Revelation, John is being given a tour of Heaven by an angel

• He sees all these people dressed in white robes

• The angel asks, “Who are these people?”

• John basically says, “Um, I’m not the one who lives here. YOU live here. You tell me.”

• The angel responds, “These are the ones who have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb.”

• They could be martyrs

• They could be THOSE WHO ARE BAPTIZED

• In Baptism we are made FULLY CLEAN 

• Hence we are symbolized by the ALB

• There are some sacristies (dressing rooms for the priests in church) and they may have off-white albs or even brown albs

• Some people think that Jesus wouldn’t always wear white, maybe He would wear earth tones

• BUT…

• That is changing the symbol

• The symbol of the WHITE ROBE is that the person has been WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

• A tan or off white robe does not communicate the same idea

• So the symbol cannot be changed without possibly changing the meaning of the symbol

• NO SACRAMENTAL RITE MAY BE MODIFIED OR MANIPULATED AT THE WILL OF THE MINISTER OR THE COMMUNITY!!

• NOT EVEN THE POPE can arbitrarily change the Liturgy

• It has to be done in obedience of Faith and with respect to the mystery of the Liturgy

• Hopefully that makes sense!!

• When we encounter the Sacraments they are meant to MAKE US HOLY, BUILD UP THE CHURCH, AND GIVE GLORY TO GOD

• Let’s talk about the last part

• Every time we approach any of the Sacraments, GOD IS GLORIFIED

• Any time we use the gifts of our Father, GOD IS GLORIFIED

• Every time, whether we feel it or not, whether we are fully present or not, THE FATHER IS GLORIFIED

• That is a gift that you can give to the Lord

• The God who loves YOU and the God YOU LOVE BACK

• EVERY SINGLE TIME WE SHOW UP TO THE SACRAMENTS!!

• LET’S DO THAT!!

• Maybe you can do that today

• Maybe tomorrow

• Today we can say thank you to the Lord

• We can CHOOSE to walk in faith

• We can CHOOSE to hope

• We can CHOOSE to continue to enter into His love

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!