What are the sacraments?

In the Catholic Church we have 7 sacraments.

CCC 1210
Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

The sacraments are:

1. Baptism (aka being born again, the first sacrament, door of the sacraments, seal of God, water of eternal life)

CCC 1213

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 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 made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word."

2. Confirmation (aka unction, sealing, chrism)

CCC 1285

Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

3. Holy Eucharist (aka Communion, The Lord's Supper)

CCC 1322-1324

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"

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."

4. Confession (aka Reconciliation, Penance)

CCC 1420-1422
Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and it remains "hidden with Christ in God." We are still in our "earthly tent," subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

"Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."

5. Anointing of the Sick (aka Last rites, extreme unction)

CCC 1499

"By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ."

6. Holy Orders

CCC 1533-1536

Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ's disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world. They confer the graces needed for the life according to the Spirit during this life as pilgrims on the march towards the homeland.

Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God.

Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ's name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God." On their part, "Christian spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of their state by a special sacrament."

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

7. Matrimony (aka Marriage, gettin' hitched, tying the knot, becoming one flesh)

CCC 1601-1602

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.

What is a Christian?

We hear the word Christian used a lot these days in so many different contexts.

We hear politicians talk about having "Christian values." We hear that this country was founded on "Christian principles."

When somebody does something wrong somebody might say, "well that wasn't very Christian of them, was it?"

We hear thousands of disagreeing denominations claiming that they are the "true Christian church" or the "first Christian church." And we hear about "Christian fellowships" or "Christian communities."

"Are they Christians?"

"Are you a Christian?"

"Well, I was raised Christian, but I don't really go to Church" or "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I think I can believe whatever I want" or "well...I believe in the Bible, so yeah."

So what is it? What is a Christian? Who are the Christians?

Webster's dictionary has over ten definitions of "Christian" that would support each of the uses in the above statements. So it's not much help at all.

This is not a new problem though. The early Christians faced similar challenges.

There were numerous sects in the first few centuries that held conflicting ideas about what was true Christianity. And these were important issues - such as the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the monotheism of the Trinity, and whether or not matter was good or evil. These were foundational issues that defined the Christian Church and still do to this day.

In all cases, however, these early Christians discerned the answers to these conflicting interpretations by turning to the leaders appointed by the apostles themselves - to the Church. The main way that early Christians could tell what was true Christianity from what was false was by examining the source and verifying if it had apostolic authority.

Those with apostolic succession (the Bishops) would get together in councils to clarify issues. At these councils they used reason and the Tradition of faith handed down from Jesus' apostles (with some help from the Holy Spirit) to discern the Truth on a matter (if possible at that time). And just as Christian doctrine had to develop then, so it continues today through the same apostolic succession in the Catholic Church.

The only way that the early Church could remain unified and meaningfully definable at all was to appeal to an authority that Jesus left in charge - His apostles and their successors. Otherwise there would have been constant division and disagreement. Nobody would have known who was really a Christian and who was not.

This is much the situation we find ourselves in today.

It is not clear enough to simply say that I believe in a book or a man. For how do you interpret that book? Where is this man? And what did he believe? What did he do?

To many, Christianity has become a philosophy. A sociological movement. A family tradition. A synonym for "good." A mood. A book. A fellowship. A personal ideal.

In all of this confusion, we cannot appeal to our own authority to decide such a matter - for we have none. It is that apostolic authority in the Catholic Church that is the only thing that can rightfully define what is Christian - for there is nothing else to appeal to.

So, if Christian's are followers of Christ, and Christ founded a Church, then it would seem to me that a "Christian" would be defined as a member of this Church.

And this very same Church proclaims that one must be validly baptized to be "incorporated into the Church" (CCC 1213).

So it would seem that a "Christian" is someone who is validly baptized.

Now, how good or bad of a Christian that person is, that is something entirely different.