SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION

The 7 sacraments are God’s way of journeying with us in our earthly pilgrimage. The initiative is
always with God.

God created us in God’s image and breathed the breath of the divine life into us. God loves us as we are
and invites us to share in the divine life:

1. to be one with God

2. immersed in God
3. held by God
4. encircled by a love that knows no bounds

Those who choose to accept this invitation to live in relationship with God within the Catholic faith do
so by participating in the process of Christian Initiation. This is how we express our YES to God.

This process has three key steps:

 Baptism

 Confirmation

 Eucharist

The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in
the Eucharist the food of eternal life.

ACTIVITY: GUESS WHAT PICTURE IS SHOWN.

(INSERT PICTURES)

By means of the sacraments of Christian initiation, we receive the unique graces that come with being in
communion with God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The sacraments of initiation
fully incorporate us into the Body of Christ, the Church.
BAPTISM
 Baptism, which celebrates the beginning of life in the family of God. The message of baptism is
the invitation to belong. Baptism unites us to Jesus as it institutes us into his body – the people
of God.
 Baptism is the first sacrament of Christian Initiation. In baptism we are made one with Christ and
a member of the Church.
 The sacrament of baptism is received only once. Since Vatican II, the Catholic Church recognises
the validity of baptism in the other Christian churches which baptise with water using the
Trinitarian formula.

CONFIRMATION
 Confirmation, also a sign of belonging, reminds us that to belong to the church means to be
open to the holy spirit, to love and serve others, to take an active part in the church, and to
share with others what we believe. Confirmation gives us the holy spirit, the principle of unity
 The Bishop, as leader of the diocesan Church community (or his delegate) administers
confirmation. Through the Laying on of Hands and Anointing with Chrism our baptismal
commitment is confirmed.

EUCHARIST
 Eucharist, which says that Jesus is really with his people, in the flesh, reminds the members of
God’s family to give thanks to God.
 Eucharist is the food of unity – when we receive Jesus’ body and blood, we are united to the lord
and to one another.

Process of Christian Initiation is completed when the person comes to the table to receive
communion for the first time.
We believe Eucharist makes the Church. The Church is made:

• in the gathering of the community, on Sunday – the Lord’s day,

• in listening to and reflecting on God’s word spoken to us in the scripture
• in the offering of our lives to God by joining ourselves to Christ’s offering
• in our personal and communal transformation in this action
• in our being sent to live as disciples of Jesus, continuing the mission of Jesus in the world.