Sacraments

Sacraments are the special ways Christ continues to support his body, the Church, as we journey in life. Our Lord promised that he would not leave us orphan and so through the sacraments, we encounter Christ in ritual and prayer and through the people of God. And with each encounter, we are blessed and empowered to be His light in the world.

There are seven sacraments. They are organized around the following categories:

Sacraments of Initiation
Initiation rites have throughout time been an important way to mark one's personal development, to remind us we are not stagnant, set for life. Such rites remind us that the journey of life is also an inner journey to fulfillment and destiny.

The greatest milestone for personal human developmentis the reconciliation and incorporation into fellowship and membership into God's family, to be made children of God, not by birth and creation, but by mercy and forgiveness.

Three sacraments celebration that initiation and they are baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist. Click on the hot links to gather more information about those sacraments and the preparation and celebration of them.

Sacraments of Healing
As we journey through life, we live in a world that is marred by sin. We have all experienced this in one fashion or another. And sadly bad things do happen to good people. This includes both external events out of our control and our own sinfulness. To help bring healing on our journey of life, we have three main sacraments: Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick.

Sacraments of Vocation
We are not stagnant people, but people graced with freedom to be on the move. But we do not allow freedom to allow chaos to control our lives. Rather we use our freedom to discern our vocation, our calling in this world. The main sacrament of vocation is the sacrament of baptism where we are called and supported to be God's children. Two other important vocations needing extra graces and divine support are marriage and holy orders.

Preparation for the Sacraments
All sacraments are a free gift from our God. We do not earn the sacraments or are worthy of them, but God in His infinite love for humanity has given them to us through Jesus Christ. But in order to better appreciate and receive these sacraments, especially celebrating them for the first time, we offer formation programs. Please go to the Growing in Faith page to find out about our formation programs.