The Sacramental Principle: “this term describes the church’s belief that “the presence of God and of grace” are “mediated through symbols to the entire course of ordinary life…through a wide variety of symbols – material, sensuous, aesthetic, active, verbal and intellectual”.
Who or what has been a sacrament to us recently?
.. to this:
The sacraments, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, are efficacious signs of grace perceptible to the senses. Through them divine life is bestowed upon us. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony.
The first quotation has been extracted from a Powerpoint presentation used during a training day for Heads of RE in Catholic Schools. Birmingham Archdiocese, as it happens, and freely available on the website of that Diocese's Department for Religious Education: here, and follow the link "A Pedagogy for Spirituality". It reflects the approach underlying On the Way to Life, so I am sure it's essential idea is cropping up elsewhere, too.
The second quotation is the answer to question 224 in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
At first sight, there is nothing wrong with the first quotation. And I don't think there is anything wrong with what is in the quotation, though it would perhaps be more customary in the Catholic Church to refer to the providential presence of God and of grace rather than a sacramental presence. It is what isn't in the quotation that makes it problematical.
Let me apply a couple of criteria for catechetical judgement. Does the quotation fully express a Christological reference? Well, no, there is no Christological reference. Does the quotation fully express a relation to salvation history as presented in the Scriptures and in the history of the Church? Well, no there is no reference to salvation history. One can see an (implied) reference to the world as created by God, and therefore the visible signs of that world being able to communicate God's presence - but even the doctrine of creation, the beginning of salvation history, is not explicitly adverted to.
This catechetical weakness does have a pastoral consequence: on the basis of this first quotation, there will be no logic of encouragement to celebrate the Sacraments properly so called. God and grace may be communicated through any signs/actions (true); so there is no necessity to turn to those signs/actions specifically designated through which God and grace are (not just may be) communicated. A particular casualty here will be the Sacrament of Penance.
237. From where do sacramental signs come?
Some come from created things (light, water, fire, bread, wine, oil); others come from social life (washing, anointing, breaking of bread). Still others come from the history of salvation in the Old Covenant (the Passover rites, the sacrifices, the laying on of hands, the consecrations). These signs, some of which are normative and unchangeable, were taken up by Christ and are made the bearers of his saving and sanctifying action.
My emphasis added here, to try and draw out that it is the taking up and defining of the signs by Christ that is just as much a part of the "sacramental principle" as the idea of signs themselves communicating the presence and grace of God.
It is quite sad to see an inadequate approach to the Sacraments still prevalent in RE circles.
3 comments:
I would go further. I would suggest that the first definition, by extending "sacramentality" as it does (especially with the final question)actually makes the Seven Sacraments seem less important, even, in some cases, no more important than any other word, gesture or "sign".
Heaven help us!
As you rightly say, not much wrong in the statement itself, but by extension...
I think this comparison you've set up compares apples to oranges...the "sacremental principle" is not the same thing s "the Sacraments" but is about the use of the ordinary things (i.e. water, art, music) to invoke the senses and connect us physically to the graces of the Sacrament.
The real problem here is in the last sentance, "Who or what has been a sacrament to us recently?" even considering the small "s" of sacrament as not refering to the seven sacraments, this is language that can only confuse or obfuscate.
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