How did you do in answering last week’s questions on the sacraments of initiation?    Here are the answers:

1. What are the sacrament(s) of initiation?

a. Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist.

The sacraments of Christian initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist—lay the foundations of every Christian life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life.

2. True or false: After Baptism takes away original sin, our will is no longer inclined toward evil.

False. Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

3. True or false: Original Sin is a personal sin for which we are responsible.

False. Although it is proper to each individual,original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin—an inclination to evil that is called “concupiscence.”

4. True or false. Baptism is necessary for salvation.

True. Baptism is birth into new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord’s will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.

5. Which is the following are the essential elements for Baptism?

d. Immersion or sprinkling of water and invocation of the Trinity.

The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

6. True or false: Baptism cannot be repeated.

True. Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated.

7. Which of these statements regarding the Eucharist are true?

a. In the Eucharist we unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life.

b. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.

c. All of the ministries and sacraments of the Church are bound up with the Eucharist.

d. As the source of one’s spiritual life, the Eucharist must be the first sacrament to be received.

e. a, b and c.

e) The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.

8. True or False: Since the Catholic Church teaches that Christ is really present in the bread and wine, the sacrifice of the Eucharist is then a re-sacrifice of Christ on the altar.

False. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.”

9. True or False: In the celebration of the Eucharist with the apostles and his commandment to them to celebrate it until His return, Jesus constitutes the apostles as priests of the New Testament.

True. The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; “thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament”

10. The Eucharistic celebration always includes: (Pick any combination of the following:)

a. the singing of a psalm of praise.

b. the proclamation of the Word of God.

c. thanksgiving to God.

d. consecration of the bread and wine.

e. reception of the Lord’s body and blood.

b, c, d, and e. The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord’s body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.

11. True or false: In the Mass it is Christ who both offers the sacrifice and is offered as the sacrifice.

True. It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

12. Which of the following is true regarding the Eucharist? (Pick any combination of the following.)

a. The Church encourages the reception of Communion, even in the state of mortal sin.

b. A Catholic is obligated to receive Holy Communion during both Advent and Lent.

c. The Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins.

d. One is required to be in a state of grace to receive communion.

e. The Eucharist wipes away venial sins.

c, d, and e. Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

13. The one to receive the sacrament of Confirmation must:(Pick any combination of the following.)

a. be confirmed only by the local Ordinary.

b. be in the state of grace.

c. have the intention of receiving the sacrament.

d. have received the sacrament of Reconciliation prior to confirmation.

e. be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ.

b, c, and e.: A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs. To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. . .

14. Which of the following are the essential elements of the Roman rite of Confirmation?(Pick any combination of the following.)

a. The words: “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

b. The laying on of the minister’s hand.

c. A symbolic slap on the cheek.

d. The anointing of the forehead with sacred chrism.

e. The reception of Holy Communion.

a, b, and d.: The essential rite of Confirmation is anointing the forehead of the baptized with sacred chrism (in the East other sense-organs as well), together with the laying on of the minister’s hand and the words: “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”

15. Which of the following real or symbolic uses of oil parallel the symbolism of anointing in the rite of Confirmation? (Pick any combination of the following.)

a. It is a sign of abundance and joy.

b. It cleanses.

c. It heals, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds.

d. It signifies beauty, health, and strength.

All of the above. In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal. Anointing, in Biblical and other ancient symbolims, is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing before and after a bath); oil is a sign of healing, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds and it makes radiant with beauty, health, and strength.

Come back next week as I begin to cover the sacraments of Healing.  Until then, may you be blessed in all that you do.

Deacon Mark