ptm contributors - huntz - love never fails - 1.12.12

8/3/2019 PTM Contributors - Huntz - Love Never Fails - 1.12.12

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Love Never Fails The Intimate Nature of the SacramentsBy Jude Huntz 1.12.12www.PrayTheMass.org

Who is this coming from the desert,arm in arm with her lover? Under theapple tree I woke you, in the placewhere you were born. Close yourheart to every love but mine; hold noone in your arms but me. (Song of

Songs 8: 5-6)Sacred Scripture has a number of images todescribe the love of God for each humanperson: the parental love of a father for hisson; the love that exists among friends; and

the care a master has for a servant. For mostof us we are very comfortable with these images. We tend to be lesscomfortable with the image of love noted above that of a spouse for his

beloved. However, this spousal image is fundamental for understanding theChristian spiritual life, and it is even more essential forunderstanding the sacramental life of the Church.Consider the following passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished

by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be convenedrapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be

present: proclamation of the word, acceptance of the Gospel entailingconversion, profession of faith, baptism itself, the outpouring of the HolySpirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion. (1229)

The relationship of God to a person is akin to the relationship between aman and a woman with respect to courtship and marriage. Sometimes thetime between meeting and nuptials is short; in other couples it can belonger. However, the same stages of the process are present: initialmeeting, courtship, engagement, marriage, and consummation. The sameholds true for the spiritual life. We have an encounter with God, we make a

commitment to God in baptism; we renew that commitment inConfirmation; and we consummate the relationship with God in thecelebration of the Eucharist.

Very often we find that people do things out of order in the realm of humanrelationships: consummation may occur before marriage or even courtship.Marriage may never take place at all. The same holds true in the spiritual


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life. The order of receiving the sacraments of initiation is important, and areflection on the proper order can make our experience of celebrating holyMass more fruitful and it can help transform our understanding of theChristian moral life.

The Catechism states:

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life inthe Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God, we

become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and madesharers in her mission: Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through

water in the Word.(1213)

The beginning of our relationship with God is at baptism. We can likenbaptism to the ancient ritual of betrothal. In the Jewish tradition betrothalwas a solemn rite whereby a man and a woman were pledged to oneanother. While the couple was to live apart, there was a legal obligation toratify the betrothal in the marriage ritual at a later date. The breaking of a

betrothal could only be done through a legal process similar to divorce, anda person could only be betrothed once in their life.

In baptism, therefore,w

e are pledged to God in an irrevocablebond. Ancient Judaism had a custom of a ritual bath before marriage, afterwhich the betrothed was clothed in the wedding garment. The Churchretains this symbol in baptism with the receiving of the white garment ofsalvation. In the Eastern tradition the wedding ceremony of Chrismation orConfirmation occurs immediately after baptism, after which the Catechismstates that, Having become a child of God clothed with the weddinggarment, the neophyte is admitted to the marriage supper of the Lamb andreceives the food of new life, the body and blood of Christ. (1244)In the Western tradition, Confirmation has become separated from

Baptism by a number of years.Very often Western Christians whoare baptized at birth are admitted to the reception of theEucharist before receiving the sacrament ofConfirmation,although converts and those seeking fullcommunion into the Catholic Church are not admitted to theEucharistic table until after they have beenconfirmed. Confirmation represents the marriage ceremony that ratifies


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the pledge of baptism and seals the relationship between God and theperson in the same way that the rite of marriage in ancient times ratifiedthe original betrothal of the couple to one another.

Hence, the Catechism is correct in stating that

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have beenraised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configuredmore deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the wholecommunity in the Lords own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.(1322)The Church herself, therefore, recognizes the correct ordering ofthe sacraments of initiation to be Baptism, Confirmation, and

Holy Eucharist. The analogy to the marriage relationship helps to explainwhy we receive Baptism and Confirmation only once, and that bothsacraments confer an indelible mark upon the soul who receives thesesacraments. Such was the case with betrothal and marriage in the ancient

world: they could only be received once and they left an unbreakable bondbetween the two who were joined together in these rites.

This analogy also helps to explain why the Church does not admit non-Catholic Christians to receive Holy Eucharist at Mass in the Catholictradition. To receive the Eucharist without first receiving Baptism and

Confirmation is to consummate a relationship with God without havingbeen properly initiated in the mystery of Christs love.

The Catechism further elucidates this connection between the Eucharistand the consummation of the marriage between God and the person inrelating the various names for this sacrament. The second name is TheLords Supper because of its connection with the supper the Lord took withhis disciples on the eve of his Passion, and because it anticipates the

wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. (1329)The reception of Jesus body and blood in the Eucharist is the

greatest intimacy a person can have with God.Since it is analogousto the consummation of the marriage between a man and woman, theEucharist can be received many times as a celebration of the intimate love

between God and the person. In the same way that a couple does not cometogether in intimate consummation of their marriage if there is a harmfuloffense between them, so a person who properly informs their conscienceand is aware of serious sin that harms the relationship with God should not


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receive the intimacy of God in the Eucharist. The couple needs to bereconciled with one another before coming together in the fruitful intimacyof consummation. Likewise, a person needs to be reconciled with God afterserious sin before experiencing the intimacy of Holy Communion.

The proper order of reception of the sacraments of initiation, therefore, hasprofound implications for our spiritual life and for the sacramentaldiscipline of the Church. Restoration of the proper order of reception byusing the analogy of the ancient understanding of marriage would go a long

way to a renewed sacramental life in the Church. Similarly, the restoredorder and the analogy of marriage that supports it would provide a renewalof marriage life and a greater understanding of Catholic sexual morality.

ptm contributors - huntz - love never fails - 1.12.12

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