Tiber River Cafe--Sacramentals, 2-minute version

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys, and today’s two minute topic is sacramentals.

The Catholic Church recognizes seven Sacraments and we believe that there is a sacred reality to each of the Sacraments and that each Sacrament points us towards Jesus.  Sacramentals are not the same as Sacraments.  The seven Sacraments were given to the Church by Jesus, to be administered by the Church, and the Sacraments provide graces absolutely necessary for our eternal salvation. 

Sacramentals on the other hand have a resemblance to the Sacraments, but sacramentals do not give us the grace of God.  Sacramentals will include a prayer and an outward sign or symbol, symbols such as laying on of hands, making the sign of the cross, or sprinkling holy water.  Sacramentals do not confer grace but they do prepare us to receive God’s grace and they help us to better cooperate with God’s grace.  We are able to weave the sacramental into our daily lives for we want to be closer to God.  Our Catholic faith becomes a way of life, a spiritual journey, and sacramentals allow us to use our five senses to fully experience our faith. 

We touch the holy water and sacred oil, we smell the candles burning, we recite the prayers and devotions, we see the ancient pictures and icons and we hear bells and the sacred music; the sacramentals are our tangible reminders of God’s never-ending love and forgiveness.  They are the images, actions, and blessings that can often tell others that we are Catholic.  Sacramentals provide a uniqueness to our faith.

There are a wealth of sacramentals that we can cherish and use to help us move closer to God, we can basically pick and choose which ones move us, which ones mean something special to us.  We can choose which of the sacramentals we may want to incorporate, many or few, whatever helps us in our spiritual journey.  Remember, the seven Sacraments are necessary for our eternal salvation, whereas sacramentals simply help point us in the proper direction.

Well, thanks again for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time.  Peace be with you.