Dominic Ryan: The Eucharist and its links to the Sacramental Life of the Church

In undertaking a study of the Eucharist and the role it plays in the life of the Church and its people today, it is important to be able to trace the origins of this sacrament and the importance of its continued celebration over time leading to this moment. It quickly becomes evident in this study that commitment to the principle of sacramentality is a major theological and pastoral characteristic of Catholicism. [1] In the general case, this sacramentality can be seen as a means through which humanity is able to comprehend that God communicates to God’s creation, humanity, and the shape, form and structure of humanity’s response to God. [2] In a more specific sense, the Church views sacramentality as a means through which God communicates to the Church, and through which the Church is able to respond to God’s communication. [3] In the eyes of the Church, therefore, the seven specific actions the Church defines as sacraments - Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders – can not only be seen as acts of God, and therefore acts of Christ, they are also acts of the Church; in fact, they can be seen as expressions of the nature and mission of the Church. [4] In this sense, the Church views the celebration of the sacraments as privileged occasions when the Church is able to manifest itself as Church, seen as being the Body of Christ. [5] Here it is understood that the recipient of a particular sacrament is therefore not only in communion with God, or Christ, but also with the Church. [6]

Through this work I intend to explore the implications of this understanding of sacramentality that the Church has, how through the celebration of the seven sacraments the individual is brought into communion not only with God, but also with the Body of Christ. I will also explore how each of the sacraments, and the sacramental life of the Church in general, are linked, or lead to, the celebration of the Eucharist and the continued life of the Church. [7] In this study I will focus on the sacrament of Eucharist, paying particular attention to how and why this sacrament can and should be the “…source and summit of the Christian life.” [8] It is important to note here that contemporary Catholic theology views the Church itself as sacramental in its outlook and practicality, and that, in fact, the Church understands itself as a sacrament. [9] This understanding is one where sacrament is viewed as being a symbol and instrument of the Church’s communion with God, leading to unity amongst people. [10] It is clearly linked to the Church’s relationship with Christ, and therefore another contemporary sacramental understanding of the Church is that Christ too is a sacrament. [11] Following from this is the concept that the Church is the continuation and presence of Christ in the world today, and its sacramental life is an expression of the reality of this presence. [12]

In the sacramental life of the Church use is made of particular signs and symbols to draw us into an awareness of the presence and action of God, and an important understanding related to this is the view that sacramentality is that which gives meaning to our experience, and understanding, of God. [13] A helpful definition of symbol here, is that which points to and makes real something else, in this case God and God’s actions in and through creation, and can allow the reality of the presence and action of God to be perceived. [14] A sign on the other hand does not allow God’s presence and action to be embodied in it. It may allude to this presence and action, but it does not enable it to be actually present. [15] For Karl Rahner, symbol is understood as that where one reality renders another reality present. [16] In the encounter of symbols making present the realities they signify, we utilise physical expressions, such as words and actions, artistic endeavours such as the creation of musical pieces and physical structures, the environments where expressions of sacramental life occur, the use of objects such as incense, oil, water and candles to elicit responses of the senses and serve as focusing tools, and the use of ritual that combines all these elements in order to draw the participant into communion with God. [17] A distinction also needs to be made between experiences as signs, understood as symbolic representations, and symbols, understood as symbolic realities, with the distinction occurring with the closeness of the symbol to that which it actualises. [18] That is, if the action or object is able to embody a reality so much as to make that reality present, we can denote it as a symbol. [19] If this closeness is not present, then we can only denote the experience as a sign or symbolic representation. [20] These ideas are important as we examine the sacramental life of the Church, exploring the reality for the Church the sacraments symbolise, and therefore actualise: God’s ongoing action, presence in and concern for God’s creation.

This brings us back to the question then of how and why the sacrament of Eucharist is seen to be the source and summit of the lived Christian experience, and therefore of the life of the Church. In order to explore this issue, I intend to examine the origins of the sacrament of Eucharist, as well as the origins of the Church’s understanding of its sacramental life, including those seven actions specifically designated as sacraments. I then intend to explore the importance of sacramental celebrations in the life of the Church, linking the celebration of the Eucharist to these celebrations in order to support the view of its centrality in the life of the Church.

In the area of the sacraments, a key doctrinal understanding of the Church, held over many centuries, [21] is that Christ instituted the sacraments. [22] Contemporary understanding of the meaning of this is quite different to that of the past. [23] Initially the statement was thought to mean that through his earthly ministry, Jesus had directed his disciples to undertake various sacramental rituals, leading to many arguments concerning valid forms of sacramental ritual and liturgy as practised in the Church. [24] A problem with this approach was that in the New Testament accounts of the life of Jesus and the early Church, there is little mention of a process of sacramental institution, with the possible exceptions of baptism and Eucharist. [25]

Contemporary thought is that through his life, death and resurrection Jesus instituted and continues to institute the sacramental life of the Church, including the Church’s sacramental system. [26] Through this, humanity is able to gain an understanding of its role in God’s creation, as well as move towards an understanding of God’s role. Therefore Jesus can be seen as a new and ongoing revelation from God, assisting God’s creation to grow in understanding of God’s nature, and God’s love and concern for them. [27] Another way of looking at this is to say that through the relationship that Jesus had with God, a very personal one, as seen in his use of the term Abba for God, a term more akin to dad or daddy than father, Jesus is for us the sacrament of God’s saving presence. [28] For Rahner, Jesus as the Incarnate Word is the absolute symbol of God in the world, and the means through which God communicates to the world, with the Church being the symbolic reality of the continued presence of Christ in the world, and with the sacraments becoming the symbolic realities of the Church. [29] For Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ is to be understood as the central sacrament, with the seven sacraments of the Church seen to be specifications and manifestations of Christ, the original sacrament. [30]

From these understandings comes the concept of Jesus as the primordial or base sacrament, from which all other sacraments are derived. Therefore, because Jesus is sacrament, those actions carried out by the Body of Christ can therefore be called sacraments. [31] Jesus becomes the baptised one, the confirmed one, the really present one, the reconciler, the priest, the lover and the healer. [32] This understanding can begin to demonstrate the interrelatedness of the sacraments in the life of the Church and the life of the believer.

In the life of Jesus and of the early Church, the word sacrament as we use it today, did not exist. Christian writers in the second century borrowed the term from their Roman contemporaries. [33] In the pre-Christian Roman context, sacramentum, from which we derive sacrament, meant a pledge of money or property deposited in a temple as part of a lawsuit or contract. This meaning expanded to mean a pledge of allegiance made by soldiers to their commanders and the gods of Rome. [34] In practice, religious ceremonies in a sacred place were involved in this concept of sacramentum. [35] As Christianity became the dominant religion of the empire, the original use of this word disappeared and the Christian understanding of sacramentum as the ceremony of Christian initiation began to dominate. [36] By the fifth century, many sacred symbols and liturgies, such as blessings, liturgical feasts and holy objects, were given the title sacramentum, although it was still used primarily with respect to the ceremony of initiation. [37] At this time Augustine was using the term to describe signs of sacred realities, and came to understand these as anything that revealed God. [38] By the twelfth century usage of the term had contracted and was applied only to the seven rituals known as the seven sacraments. [39]

Development of the Seven Sacraments of the Church and the Centrality of the Eucharist

The origin of the sacramental worship of the early Church grew out of its Hebrew roots, as exemplified in the person and actions of Jesus. [40] There was no concise numbering of sacraments and their transmission was achieved through simple narrative explanations. [41] With a growth in numbers of followers, status and wealth, due to the ending of persecution from 334 C.E., explanations of and rituals for the sacramental life of the Church became more elaborate. [42] With the development of the Western (Latin) Church, sacramental ritual became more prescribed, with the emphasis being placed on doing things correctly in order for a sacrament to be efficacious. [43] From the time of the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, central control of sacramental ritual has become the norm, with the Holy See detailing norms for sacramental worship through official texts, rubrics and the qualification of presiders. [44]

From the earliest times of the Church, the Eucharist was recognised as the most important sacramental experience. [45] The first Christians gathered to share meals together and at these meals they would remember Jesus (1 Corinthians 11: 23-27), just as he had told them to (Luke 22:19). [46] Here they would share bread and wine, recognising that in doing so they experienced communion with Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) and with each other, in a very real and practical way (Acts 3:42-47; 4:32-35). [47] Admission to the community of believers, and participation in this sacramental meal, was achieved through baptism. [48] One of the earliest descriptions of Christian baptism comes to us from Justin Martyr, living in Rome in 150 C.E. [49] Important elements of the ritual involved the candidate for baptism praying and fasting, along with the church community. The candidate entered the water of baptism and was asked three Trinitarian questions by the officiator, ascertaining acceptance of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Upon leaving the water the candidate was introduced into the assembly where common prayers were said and the kiss of peace exchanged. Eucharist was then celebrated, with the newly baptised participating fully for the first time. An important understanding here is that all that had occurred up to that point was in preparation for the sharing of the Eucharist. [50] Even in the early Church the significance of this initiation process is clearly seen: the initiated one is drawn to the key, central celebration and reason for being, of the community, the celebration of the Eucharist, through ritual rich in symbol and meaning.

Another early writer, Tertullian, writing about fifty years after Justin Martyr, supplied more detailed information regarding initiation practices. [51] In his writing he speaks of an anointing with oil, a signing of the cross, a prayer with outstretched hand over the candidate, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, both on the water of the baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and on the person being baptised. [52] Elements of these rituals are with us today in our sacraments of initiation, especially in the rite of Christian initiation for adults, where the person being initiated is baptised, confirmed and receives Eucharist, and in line with the traditions and rituals of the past, water, light, oil, prayer, community, bread and wine are important symbols of the reality expressed in and through these rituals: the initiation of a new member into the Body of Christ and their ongoing participation in the celebration of the Eucharist . [53]

It is important for us to note that in the early centuries of the Church, the three sacraments of initiation were celebrated together. The person, baptised, clothed in white and anointed, was led to their first complete Eucharistic celebration, the liturgy of Easter. [54] This initiation followed an intense period of preparation known as the catechumenate, [55] and the person officiating at the ceremony in the early Church was the local bishop. [56] With the growth of Christianity in the Latin Church, and with confirmation reserved for the bishop, it was not possible for the bishop to confirm all those desiring to be baptised, and so the sacraments of baptism and confirmation were celebrated separately, a practice that continues in the Western Church today in the initiation of children. [57]

We now come to consider the sacraments of healing within the Church: reconciliation and anointing of the sick. Rituals of reconciliation, separate to baptism, began to be developed in the early years of the Church. In recognition of the need to approach the Eucharist, that key celebration in the life of all Christians, and the Eucharistic community, in an appropriate state, that is, true to the ideals of Christ, those who had transgressed attempted various forms of atonement. [58] Early on this was as simple as reciting the Lord’s Prayer. [59] This developed to include a formal rite where, for those who had been excluded from the celebration of the Eucharist for serious transgressions against the Christian community, an almost unbearable punishment, means were available for a penitent person to be welcomed back into the Eucharistic community. [60] This rite included elements of exclusion, the wearing of clothing that signified their exclusion, and prescribed acts of repentance. In this process the community supported the penitent through prayer. Finally, they were welcomed back by the bishop, the leader of the community and allowed to take part in the Eucharist again. [61] It is important to note again that this process was developed so that due emphasis was placed on the central act of the community, the Eucharistic gathering.

In the Catholic Church today, with all the changes that have occurred over time in the way that this rite of forgiveness is celebrated and understood, a key understanding is still the need to be reconciled with God, and therefore with the Eucharistic community. [62] In the conversion and penance required in this reconciliation with God and the Eucharistic community, the Church outlines the importance of the Eucharist: “Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist … those who live the life of Christ are fed and strengthened.” [63] This action is in recognition of the forgiveness Jesus offered and the welcome he extended “…to forgiven sinners to the community of the people of God.” [64] This is signified for the Church in the way Jesus welcomed sinners at his table “…a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God’s forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the people of God.” [65] Through the reception of this sacrament for people in a state of serious sin that alienates them from God and the community, they are once more able to partake of the Lord’s Table, the Eucharistic meal, bringing them back to communion with both. [66]

Illness has been a constant in the human experience and so over time we have tried to deal with this in many different ways. In the early experience of the Church, guided by the many accounts of healing in the life and ministry of Jesus, [67] and by the lived experience and medical knowledge of the people of the time, anointing of the sick was a practice carried out in recognition of the need for healing, as well as the need for God’s help and mercy. [68] This act of anointing, an informal ritual where the part of the body requiring healing was anointed with oil, was carried out by either the lay people themselves or the presbyter, sometimes using oil blessed by a bishop, but otherwise using oil blessed by a lay person who had a reputation of holiness. [69] By the early Middle Ages the role of anointing was reserved to priests, and by this stage the rite associated with the anointing had become a sacrament for those who were dying. [70] In contemporary Catholicism the rite of anointing is now a reflection of the more ancient practice and understanding of anointing with oil, and it is considered to be a sacrament of both physical and spiritual healing. [71]

In the revision of the rite that took place after the Second Vatican Council, the pastoral context of this sacrament has been emphasised. In this, priests are reminded of their need not just to visit the dying, but to visit all in their care who are suffering. [72] And, in the context of this study looking at the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church and the believer, in these pastoral visits priests are reminded not just to anoint the sick, but to talk to them offering counsel, to pray with them and read from sacred Scriptures, to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation if the sick person desires to, and to bring them communion regularly. [73] There is also the option of a communal anointing to be celebrated if possible, with this anointing to take place in a Eucharistic liturgy that is attended by both the ill and those who look after them. [74]

At present, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that only a priest can administer this sacrament, and that the Eucharistic community should encourage those who are sick to receive it, supported both by the priest and the faith community to which they belong. [75] It is also stated that it is most fitting to celebrate this sacrament within the Eucharist as it is a memorial of Christ’s Passover, and therefore a reminder of the transition that occurs in our lives, one that ultimately leads from earthly life, to death and eternal life. [76] To this end, the Church sees the importance of the Eucharist as the last sacramental celebration in the life of a person before they die. [77] This has given rise to Church offering those who are about to leave earthly life the opportunity to receive the Eucharist as viaticum, [78] with viaticum being the link with the “passing over” to God occurring at death, in memory and recognition of Christ’s own Passover, which we celebrate at each Eucharistic gathering. [79]

Finally, this brings us to the sacraments at the service of communion, holy orders and marriage, sacraments that are directed towards personal salvation and the building of the People of God. [80] In the early years of the Church, Christians were encouraged to marry other Christians and raise their children according to the example offered by Jesus. [81] This marriage was celebrated as a civil matter and was not governed by Church sacramental regulations. [82] It was not until the twelfth century that marriage was being acknowledged as a sacrament by Church theologians, though from around 400 CE Church officials began their involvement in the marriage rite. [83]

In the sacrament of marriage, seen by the Church as signifying and sharing “…the mystery of the unity and faithful love between Christ and the Church…” [84] married couples are to grow in the awareness that their vocation is one of helping each other “…attain holiness in their married life and in the rearing of their children…”. [85] It is seen that the birth of children that may result from the marriage of Christians, and the baptism of these children, enables the People of God, the Body of Christ, to be perpetuated through the centuries. [86]

From earliest times Christian marriage has been seen as being rooted in the concept and actuality of self-gift, with this gifting of oneself totally to another reflecting the reality of God. [87] Married couples, along with all members of the Body of Christ, are supported and strengthened in their vocation through the reception of the Eucharist. [88] The importance the Church places on the Eucharist in the sanctification of marriage can be seen in the Catechism where it states:

“It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ … made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood of Christ, they may form but ‘one body’ in Christ.” [89]

From earliest times in the Church, a system of leadership developed to help the community live its life in the manner they felt Jesus called them to. [90] Eventually this gave rise to a number of offices, bishop, presbyter, deacon, which required a ceremony of ordination in order to fulfil that office. [91] It is around 215 CE, with the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus that the Church is able to trace the first existing ritual of ordination, giving a clear indication of the ancient reality and practice of ordination. [92] By the eleventh century ordination had come to be generally considered a sacrament. [93] With the advent of Vatican II and the publication of the document ‘The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy’ (Sacrosanctum concilium) the Church states “… the prayers addressed to God by the priest who, in the person of Christ, presides over the assembly, are said in the name of the entire holy people and of all present.” [94] That is, the priest acts for and in the name of the entire Eucharistic community. In further Vatican II documents the role of the priest is stated as thus:

“…by reason of their sacerdotal dignity; and in virtue of the sacrament of Orders, after the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest … they are consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament … However, it is in the eucharistic cult or in the eucharistic assembly of the faithful that they exercise … their sacred functions … and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again … the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering … a spotless victim to the Father.” [95]

Once again the centrality of the Eucharist is evident. It is through the Eucharistic ministry of the priest that the presence of Christ can be actualised for the community of believers. [96] With the reception of this sacrament certain men are seen to receive a sacred power in order to serve the faithful through “… teaching, divine worship and pastoral governance.” [97] The Church therefore sees the ordained priesthood as a means “… by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads [Christ’s] Church.” [98]

Conclusion: The Eucharist as Source and Summit of the Church’s Sacramental Life

In the Church today, all the sacraments are seen as sacred links that unite the faithful to each other and bind them to Christ. [99] It is the communion that is achieved through our sacramental life, our communion with God and each other, that is the aim of our journey of faith. It is our Eucharistic life that is seen primarily as the means to achieve this communion. [100] As mentioned in the preamble to this discussion, sacramentality is a reality that infuses the life and mission of the Church. It is through its sacramental experiences that the Church is able to experience the reality of a loving God present to God’s people. It is through the Eucharistic life of this community that this presence is most clearly expressed and experienced. [101] If this is indeed the case, life in the faith community needs to be directed towards the Eucharist, and the Eucharist should have a transformative effect on the life of the community, allowing the reality of God’s presence to be experienced and celebrated. [102] This experience of communion, realised in and through the body of people known as the Church, is made explicit and deepened through the Eucharistic nature of that communion. [103] In this community, it is an accepted reality that Jesus as Christ:

“…is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass … especially in the eucharistic species … he is present in the sacraments … he is present in his word … he is present when the Church prays and sings…” [104]

The Church and the sacramental life of the Church are a means to communion with God and, as argued above, the Eucharist, as the central sacramental reality and act of the Church, is the key means to this communion. [105] In our Eucharistic celebrations we are not only inviting each other into communion as the Body of Christ, God invites us into communion with God, [106] a communion that enables God’s plan of salvation to be realised. [107] It is in our celebration of the Eucharist today, as from the earliest times of the Church, that we perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, and commemorate Christ’s death and resurrection, celebrating Christ’s continued presence with, in and through the Eucharistic community. [108] In this sacred, ritual meal the Body of Christ gathers to remember, proclaim, realise and celebrate what God once did in Christ, what God continues to do in Christ now, and what God will do in Christ in the time to come. [109]

Our participation in the Eucharist offers spiritual nourishment and our communion with God and each other can thus be deepened. [110] It is through our participation in this reality that we are also able to respond to God, giving thanks, praise and glory to God for God’s gift of communion experienced through the Eucharist, [111] and it is in the Eucharist that the initiated and participating Christian is able to encounter the risen Christ intimately, growing in awareness of the nature and demands of the Kingdom of God, with this Kingdom realised through all that Jesus taught and achieved. [112] Our encounter of Christ in the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian lives, giving meaning to the reality of our experience of communion with the divine, and supporting us on our journey to comprehension of what this communion may mean.

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[1] R.P. McBrien, Catholicism, Rev. ed. (North Blackburn: CollinsDove, 1994), 787.

[7] Vatican II Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis (Hereafter PO), Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, par.5, in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. A. Flannery (Northport, New York: Costello Publishing Company, 1975), 871.

[8] Vatican II Council, Lumen Gentium (Hereafter LG), Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, par.11, in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. A. Flannery (Northport, New York: Costello Publishing Company, 1975), 362.

[9] K.B. Osborne, Sacramental Theology: A General Introduction (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), 10.

[11] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 10-11. (See also LG 1 “Since the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of sacrament…”.)

[12] K. Rahner, The Church and the Sacraments (London: Burns and Oates, 1974), 13-14.

[13] B. Cooke, Sacraments and Sacramentality (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1985), 57.

[14] K. Richter, The Meaning of the Sacramental Symbols: Answers to Today’s Questions (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1990), 14.

[15] J. McKenna, “Symbol and Reality: Some Anthropological Considerations,” in Worship, Vol. 65, 19.

[22] “The Seven Sacraments of the Church,” par. 1210, in Catechism of the Catholic Church (Hereafter CCC), (Homebush: St Paul’s, 1994), 311.

[25] Cooke, Sacraments and Sacramentality, 57. ( For what some have seen as possible accounts of institution see Mk 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:19 for baptism, and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Matthew 26:26-28, Luke 22: 17-20 and Mark 14:22-24 for Eucharist.)

[28] Cooke, Sacraments and Sacramentality, 64-65. (With this, Cooke explains that the Abba experience for Jesus became the fundamental symbol through which Jesus became more conscious of God and himself, with this finding expression in the reality of all he did, and with all he interacted. Because of the immediacy of his relationship with God, he was and is seen as the living embodiment of God’s saving presence, therefore through his life, death and resurrection, human experience was given its full significance, and this is reflected in the sacramental life of the Church.)

[30] K. W. Irwin, “Sacrament,” The New Dictionary of Theology (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1987), 919.

[31] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 76.

[32] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 77.

[33] J. Martos, Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church (Missouri: Triumph Books, 1991), 3.

[34] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 3.

[35] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 3.

[36] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 3.

[37] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 4.

[38] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 4.

[39] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 4.

[40] M. Hellwig, “Sacraments,” in M. Glazier and M. Hellwig (eds.), The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994), 775.

[41] Hellwig, “Sacraments,” 775.

[42] Hellwig, “Sacraments,” 775.

[43] Hellwig, “Sacraments,” 775.

[44] Hellwig, “Sacraments,” 775.

[45] M. Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” in M. Eliade (Ed. in Chief), The Encyclopedia of Religion: Volume 12 (New York: Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1995), 505.

[46] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 25.

[47] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 25.

[48] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 505.

[49] W.J. Bausch, A New Look at the Sacraments, Rev. ed. (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1992), 46.

[50] Bausch, A New Look at the Sacraments, 46.

[51] Bausch, A New Look at the Sacraments, 46.

[52] Bausch, A New Look at the Sacraments, 46.

[53] T. Elich, “Confirmed in the Faith of Baptism,” Liturgy News 20 (1990), 6-10.

[54] J. Martos, “How Our Sacraments Began,” Religion Teachers Journal January (1989), 17.

[55] Bausch, A New Look at the Sacraments, 46.

[56] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 506.

[57] J. Martos, “From Darkness to Light,” Religion Teachers Journal March (1989), 33.

[58] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 506.

[59] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 506.

[60] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 506.

[61] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 506.

[62] CCC 1422.

[63] CCC 1436.

[64] CCC 1443.

[65] CCC 1443.

[66] CCC 1446.

[67] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 321.

[68] J. Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” Religion Teachers Journal February (1989), 33.

[69] Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” 33.

[70] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 318.

[71] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 318.

[72] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 339.

[73] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 339.

[74] Martos, Doors to the Sacred, 339.

[75] CCC 1516.

[76] CCC 1517.

[77] CCC 1517.

[78] CCC 1524.

[79] CCC 1524.

[80] CCC 1534

[81] Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” 33.

[82] Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” 33.

[83] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 7.

[84] LG 11.

[85] LG 11.

[86] LG 11.

[87] T. Doyle, “The Theology of Marriage: Where We Are Today,” in Studia Canonica Vol 19 (1985), 97.

[88] LG 11.

[89] CCC 1621.

[90] Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” 33.

[91] Martos, “A Good Time For Christians,” 33.

[92] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 5.

[93] Osborne, Sacramental Theology, 9.

[94] Vatican II Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium (Hereafter SC), The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, par.33, in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. A. Flannery (Northport, New York: Costello Publishing Company, 1975), 12.

[95] LG 28.

[96] CCC 1549.

[97] CCC 1592.

[98] CCC 1547.

[99] CCC 950.

[100] CCC 950.

[101] LG 7.

[102] Hellwig, “Christian Sacraments,” 509

[103] M.G. Lawler & T. Shannon, “The Church is a Graced Communion,” in Worship, Vol. 67, 490.

[104] SC 7.

[105] Lawler & Shannon, The Church, 490.

[106] Lawler & Shannon, The Church, 497.

[107] Lawler & Shannon, The Church, 501.

[108] Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic Questions and Answers (Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2001, accessed on 8 October 2001); available from: http://www.usccb.org/dpp/realpresence.htm; Internet.

[109] M. G. Lawler, Symbol and Sacrament: A contemporary Sacramental Theology (New York: Paulist, 1987), 134.

[110] Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Real Presence of Jesus.

[111] Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Real Presence of Jesus.

[112] M. Figura, “Meeting Christ in the Church,” in Communio, Vol. 24, 238.

Dominic Ryan is a Masters OnLine Student studying Theology at McAuley Campus.

Preamble