The Lord Jesus Christ begins to preach and proclaim, at Nazareth by quoting Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and it is taken from the Old Testament. - Luke 4:14-19 -

The spirit of the Lord Yahweh has been given to me,
for Yahweh has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up hearts that are broken;
to proclaim liberty to captives,
freedom to those in prison;
to proclaim a year of favour from Yahweh,
a day of vengeance for our God. - Isaiah 61:1-2 -

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord's year of favour. - Luke 4:4-19 -

Second Vatican Council starts its Pastoral Constitution on the Universal Church with the words: "The joy and hope, grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in anyway, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ as well." - GS 1 -

The history of salvation or divine revelation through the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, indeed, brings us the history of salvation, and the Sacraments which the Lord Jesus Christ instituted are the mystery of salvation.

Sacraments are religious rites or the ecclesial rituals that confers special graces. In the Latin Vulgate, Saint Jerome translated the Greek word mysterion by the Latin sacramentum. Christian practices such as Baptism and the Holy Eucharist were called mysteries in the Greek Orthodox church to this day. It is because of Saint Jerome's translation, the Latin church refer to these ceremonies as "Sacraments."

Although baptism and the Holy Eucharist were considered the primary sacraments, the term "Sacrament" was used in the early Universal Church to describe many kinds of religious ceremonies and practices. By the 12th century Hugo of St. Victor listed some thirty sacraments. This was probably the result of Saint Augustine's definition of sacraments as signs pertaining to things divine, or visible forms of an invisible grace. Since there is no limit to the number of ways God's grace can be expressed, the number of sacraments increased with Christian sensitivity and imagination, but this made administrative control difficult. Thus, the Council of Trent [ A.D. 1545 ] decreed that not all signs of sacred things had sacramental value. Visible signs become sacraments only if they represent an invisible grace and become its channels.

At a later council, the Roman Catholic Church limited the number of sacraments to seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Penance/Reconciliation, Holy Orders, Holy Matrimony, Extreme Unction/Anointing of the Sick. Part of the need for exact definition came during the 16th century in response to the Reformation. The Reformers, in turn, responded to the conclusions of the Roman Catholic Church as it was redefined at the Council of Trent.

The Reformers held that the number seven was chosen arbitrarily, so they defined "Sacrament" still more sharply, claiming that "Sacrament" should apply not to all visible means of an invisible grace but only to those means which the Lord Jesus himself commanded to be practised. This limited the number to two - Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.

All the seven "Sacraments" were instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is utmost importance to acknowledged and to understand the teachings of the sacraments.

Religion has its rituals and rituals are symbolic actions to express the human response to God. Sacraments are religious rites or the ecclesial rituals. They are symbolic actions, persons, materials and things. For instance, water, oil, bread, wine, signs, words, etc are make use as symbols. Bishops, priests, deacons, laity and the worshipping community have symbolic representation in the sacraments. Body or physical movements, and intonations are signs in the celebration of "Sacraments."

The institution of sacraments by the Lord Jesus would means that: Sacraments are primarily gifts of God. In other words, they are not human origins.

BAPTISM : Matthew 3:11, 13-17; Mark 1:4-11; Luke 3:16, 21-22; John 1:29-33, 3:1-21; Acts 2:38, 11:15-17, 19:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:25-28; Colossians 2:12-13

I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [ In the Old Testament fire, a purifying element more refined and efficacious than water, was already a symbol of God's supreme intervention in history and of his Spirit which comes to purify hearts, Is. 1:25; Zc. 13:9; Mt. 3:2-3; Si. 2:5, etc. ] - Matt. 3:11 -

Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. 'It is I who need baptism from you' he said 'and yet you come to me!' But Jesus replied, 'Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands' [ Though sinless, Jn. 8:46. Jesus is determined to submit to John's baptism because he sees it as a part of God's design, Lk. 7:29-30 and the last act preparatory to the messianic era, Mt. 3:6; by accepting it he expresses his wish to satisfy the saving 'righteousness' of God that governs the whole plan of salvation. St. Matthew is probably thinking not only of the act of baptism but of the new 'righteousness' which, through Christ, is going to fulfil and perfect that of the old Law, Mt. 5:17,20 ] - Matt. 3:13-15 -

CONFIRMATION : Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:33-34; Acts 8:14-17, 10:38

I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit." Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God. [ Son of God ] [This phrase sums up the whole purpose of the Messiah's coming, 1:1, namely, that mankind might be born again in the Spirit; and the Old Testament had already foretold it, Acts 2:33. The Spirit rests on him, Is. 11:2, 42:1; Jh. 1:33, and so he can confer it on others (baptism in the Spirit, here and Acts 1:5) but only after the resurrection, 7:39, 16:7-8. 20:22; Acts 2. For Jesus 'came in the flesh' 1 Jh. 4:2; 2 Jh. 7, flesh that was corruptible, Jh. 1:14, and it is only when he is 'lifted up' and has gone to the Father that his body, glorified now, is fully endowed with divine, life giving power. Thenceforward the Spirit flows freely to the world from this body as from an inexhaustible spring, 7:37-39, 19:34; Rm. 5:5. For the water symbolism, 4:1. ] - John 1:33-34 -

HOLY  EUCHARIST : Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. 'Take it and eat;' he said 'this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. 'Drink all of you from this,' he said 'for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.' - Matt. 26:26-29 -

PENANCES / RECONCILIATION : Matthew 16:18-20, 18:18; John 20:22-23; Acts 1:8; James 5:16

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. Then, he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. - Matt. 16:18-20 - 18:18 -

After saying this Jesus breathed on them and said:

'Received the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.' - John 20:22-23 - [ The breath of Jesus is a symbol of the Spirit (breath, in Hebrew) he sends forth the Spirit who will make all things anew, Gn. 1:2, 2:7; Ezk. 37:9; Ws. 15:11, Jh. 19:30, Mt. 3:16 ]

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth. - Acts 1:18 -

HOLY  ORDERS : Matthew 19:19-12; John 13:3-15, 20:22-23; Acts 1:15-26; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

There are eunuchs born that way from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can. [ The Lord Jesus Christ invites to perpetual continence those who would consecrate themselves entirely to the kingdom of God ] - Matt. 19:19-12 -

I would like to see you free from all worry. An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord's affairs, all he need to worry about is pleasing the Lord; but a married man has to bother about the world's affairs and devote himself to pleasing his wife: he is torn two ways. In the same way an unmarried woman, like a young girl, can devote herself to the Lord's affairs; all she need worry about is being holy in body and spirit. The married woman, on the other hand, has to worry about the world's affairs and devote herself to pleasing her husband. I say this only to help you, not to put a halter round your necks, but simply to make sure that everything is as it should be, and that you give your undivided attention to the Lord. - 1 Cor. 7:32-35 -

HOLY  MATRIMONY : Matthew 19:3-11; John 2:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-11; Ephesians 5:21-33

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?' he answered, 'Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So that, what God has united, man must not divide. - Matt. 19;3-6 -


A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ Jesus treats the Church because it is his body - and we are its living parts. [Add. (Vulg) 'made from his flesh and blood'] For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ Jesus and the Church. To sum up; you too, each one of you, must love his wife as he loves himself; and let every wife respect her husband. - Eph. 5:29-33 -

UNCTION / ANOINTING : Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 6:12-13; Luke 9:10-11; James 5:14-15

So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them. - Mark 6:12-13 -

If anyone of you is in trouble, he should pray; if anyone is feeling happy, he should sing a psalm. If one of you is ill, he should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up again. - James 5:14-15 -

Sacraments are the symbols that open the salvific mysteries of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Universal Church. Therefore, the Universal Church is a symbol in the world, a people or human way of connecting with divine reality. That is, the presence of God, the Father, the Son, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Truly, salvation and grace are gifts of God.

                                                                            Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -