Sacraments
“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.”
— Catechism of the Catholic Church 1131
Sacraments of Initiation
Sacraments of Healing
Sacraments of Service
Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism is the sacramental foundation of the Christian life. A person lives in Christ by living as a member of His Body, the Church. What we see, hear, and do in this sacrament is an outward expression of God’s unseen works. Baptism brings a person into membership through initiation into the mystery of faith among the people of God.
As the Rite of Baptism states: Parents, you are the first teachers of your child in the ways of faith. May you also be the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what you say and do. This witness includes weekly worship, daily prayer, parish membership, living according to Christian morality and the conscious love of God and neighbor. There is no substitute for your faith, example, or teaching.
Please contact Julie at the Cluster Office to register for baptismal preparation. A priest or deacon will be assigned for the preparation and will contact you soon.
Sacrament of Communion
Holy Eucharist: The Source and Summit of our faith.
Sacrament of Confirmation
The gift of faith is one of the strongest sources to living a happy and wholesome life. We strive to prepare our youth and adults for full membership in the Church and in the world. This requires a thorough study of our beliefs, traditions, and practices, so our students will be capable of sharing their faith. Confirmation is one of the sacraments of initiation into the Catholic faith.
Direct preparation for confirmation begins in a teen’s sophomore or junior year of high school. The celebration of the sacrament takes place the following school year, in the spring of the student's junior or senior year.
Each candidate must have a real freedom to accept or reject the reception of Confirmation at this time in their lives; it should be a personal choice based on an informed decision. Confirmation IS NOT a graduation from faith formation. A confirmed Catholic has an active and genuine interest in knowing, living, and sharing their Catholic faith throughout his/her life.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a celebration of God’s forgiveness. Its other names include Sacrament of Forgiveness, Confession, Sacrament of Penance.
We have Confession offered always by asking or appointment, as well as at special penance services held in the Lenten & Advent seasons and weekly at the scheduled times.
Preparation for a child’s first reconciliation is included in the process for first communion.
Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick
"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." (CCC 1499)
Receiving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is recommended at the time of grave illness, hospitalization or before surgery. It can be received multiple times throughout a person’s life, including anytime a person’s condition worsens.
"The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament only for those who are at the point of death. No. It is important that this is clear…Let us remember that the Anointing of the Sick is one of the “sacraments of healing,” of ‘restoration,’ that heals the spirit.” (Pope Francis, Prayer intention message, 7/2/24.)
To receive the sacrament, please contact the parish priest or the parish office. In addition, there are communal anointing services during the year.
Sacrament of Marriage
Free - Faithful - Fruitful - Perpetual
Can. 1055 §1. The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized.
§2. For this reason, a valid matrimonial contract cannot exist between the baptized without it being by that fact a sacrament.
Can. 1056 The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament.
Can. 1057 §1. The consent of the parties, legitimately manifested between persons quali-fied by law, makes marriage; no human power is able to supply this consent.
§2. Matrimonial consent is an act of the will by which a man and a woman mutually give and accept each other through an irrevocable covenant in order to establish marriage. (Code of Canon Law)
Sacrament of Holy Orders
Holy Orders, including priests, bishops, and deacons, is the sacrament that continues the mission of the Church that Jesus Christ entrusted to the apostles.
All baptized Christians share in the mission of the Church within the context of their vocation, and ordained ministers have a special role. "Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the community of believers" (CCC 1549). They are called to serve the Kingdom of God here on earth and put the grace they receive in their ordination to work by shepherding Christ’s faithful toward the Heavenly Kingdom.
Although not a part of the sacrament of Holy Orders, consecrated life is an essential vocation for the life of the church. Men and women called to religious life dedicate their lives to God and the service of His Church in a unique way by professing vows to the evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity, and obedience) and providing an example to the world of an incredible union with God.
