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| by Bishop David Horsman
SACRAMENTS OF THE NEW LIFE
We need to look more closely at the mystery of the water and blood. It is
full of much meaning.
First, the Water. "Know ye not" says Saint Paul, " that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" Here it is
that we put on Christ's atoning death as our own,
"therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so also we
should walk in newness of LIFE. So, in baptism we are plunged beneath the
waters of the font. Thus, "our old man is crucified with him that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Then
we are raised up from the water of the font- the womb of the Church -
to"walk in newness of LIFE. Thus identified with Christ's death and
resurrection, we are Born again, born from above." But Our Lord coupled
water and Spirit, and, indeed, the Holy Spirit is the agent of this New
birth. Just as at the Creation of the world, "the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters," (Genesis 1:2) even so he moves upon the waters of
baptism in this creation of new LIFE in Christ. By the same Holy Spirit, we
are incorporated into the Bride of Christ, the Church. St Paul says, " As
the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body
being many are one body, so also is Christ, for by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body." (I Corinthians 12:12-13)
There is moreover a second phase in the initiation of the believer into new
life in the Church called
Confirmation. In this sacrament, hands are laid upon Christians, already
baptized and they are anointed with oil, "sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance."
That is, we are given the Holy Spirit, as a token of what is to come! We are
beginning to see how the Sacraments, using matter such as water and olive
oil, bread and wine etc. when sanctified by special prayers, become bridges
between the material and the spiritual world. This is a beautiful gift of
God's providence. Man, who is neither pure animal, nor angel, but something
rather in-between, is given a medium of communion in which material means
are used for spiritual effects.
Now, the blood. The major Holy festival among the Jews was called the
Passover. It celebrated their deliverance, exodus, from Egyptian bondage.
The name referred to the passage of the Death Angel through Egypt, taking
the life of all the first born, except in the homes of the Israelites.
Their homes were" passed over" by the Death Angel because they had killed a
lamb and smeared their door posts with the blood. The Lord commanded Moses:
"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. . . . kill
it in the
evening, And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side
posts
and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein ye eat it. . . .
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the
first born
in the land of Egypt both man and beast. . . and the blood shall be to you
for a
token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass
over
you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you." (Exodus 12:
5-13)
According to Saint John, Christ was crucified at the time of the killing of
the Passover lambs, for this festival. At the beginning of his ministry,
Jesus was introduced by John the Baptist with the words: "Behold the lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)
St. Paul exclaims: "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us!" (I
Corinthians 5;7) St. Peter reminds us, " Ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish (I Peter 1: 18-20). And, on the night
in which he was betrayed to death, Jesus sat down to supper with his chosen
Apostles. "And, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and
gave it to the disciples and said: take eat, this is my body. And he took
the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying: drink ye all of it, for
this is my blood of the new testament [ the new covenant between God and
man ] which is shed for many for the remission of sins." ( Matthew
26:26-28) A very hard saying, but he had prepared them for this day. One
day, after Jesus had fed a great crowd with five loaves of bread and a few
fishes, he said:
"I am bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I shall
give for the LIFE of the world. . . . Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, ye have no LIFE in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood hath ETERNAL LIFE and I will raise him up at the last
day."
(John 6: 51-54 )
This new life, in Christ, begun in Baptism, perfected in Confirmation is
nourished by the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Communion, the Holy Mass. And,
again, simple materials, bread and wine are blessed and consecrated to
spiritual use. They become indeed the vehicles whereby God himself comes to
us, and renews the divine life within us so that we become that of which we
partake.
The Church has other sacraments, that enable us to participate in the
spiritual life through material means. Two hindrances to the fullness of
this life are sin and sickness. The Sacrament of Unction was instituted when
Christ "called unto him the Twelve and began to send them forth, by two and
two and gave them power over unclean spirits. . . . . and they cast out many
devils, and anointed many with oil that were sick and healed them. (Mark 6:
7-13 ) James says, in his Epistle:
"Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church and let
them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the
prayer
of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up; and if
he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. ( 5: 14-15)
In a scene to which we have already referred, after his Resurrection, Christ
said to his Apostles,
" As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you, and when he had said
this,
he breathed on them and saith unto them receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose
soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye
retain, they are retained. (John20: 21-23 )
This power to forgive sins has been passed down through the centuries by
Apostles to bishops to priests by the laying on of hands and is the
institution of the Sacrament of Penance.
Two other sacraments are the means by which the Church as the Body of Christ
propagates
itself : Marriage is part of the natural law of man, raised to sacramental
status as a type of the relation between Christ and the Church, as we
discussed earlier ( Ephesians 5: 22 ff). Holy Orders
were instituted in the context of the Last Supper when Christ said to his
disciples " this do, in remembrance of me. " This tradition was affirmed by
the Apostle Paul:
"I have received of the Lord, that which I also delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread:
and brake it and said this is my body which is broken for you:
THIS DO, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. After the same manner also
he took the cup, . . . for as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup,
ye
do shew the Lord's death until he come." (I Corinthians 11:23-26)
This Command, or if you will, commission, to offer the Holy Sacrifice in
perpetuity, "until he come," has ever been honored by the tradition of the
Church as the institution of the sacred Priesthood and of the sacrament of
Holy Orders.
Thus is the new life in Christ begun, nourished, maintained and propagated
in the Bride, which is the Church of Christ. Just as HOPE, which "maketh
not ashamed" is the virtue by which we follow Christ as the WAY, and FAITH
is the virtue by which we pledge our troth to Christ as the TRUTH, just so
is LOVE ( Charity ) the virtue by which we partake of the more abundant
LIFE which we receive by abiding in Christ the LIFE. "I am the true vine,
and my Father is the husbandman ," declared our Lord, "abide in me and I in
you , as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself." This is but another way
of saying, there is no life for the Christian except by communion with his
Lord. But how? "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love."
Then, he follows with this: " This is my commandment that ye love one
another as I have loved you." (John 15: 1-17) Of the three great virtues,
love must become dominant in the Christian's life. St. Paul is clear : "Now
abideth faith, hope and love, (charity ) but the greatest of these is
love."
(I Corinthians 13:13) But how can we poor sinners love? It must begin in
God. As St. John says:
"Herein is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his
Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also
to love
One another." (I John 4:10-11)
John adds a bit later, "We love him, because he first loved us." (V.19) The
gift of love is given to us, in the sealing with the Holy Ghost, wherein "
The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit which is
given unto us." (Romans 5:5) It is a blessed life, for it is life in
communion with the eternal. For such a life were we made! But, contrary to
much popular preaching today, it is not a guarantee of "worldly success."
Our Lord said: "If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you." (John
15:20) "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because
ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you." (V.19) It is no accident that the great sign of God's
love to us is the shed blood and the body broken; for this is how the bent
world reacts to love.
Let thy Blood in mercy poured, let thy gracious Body broken,
be to me O gracious Lord, of thy boundless love the token.
Thou didst give thyself to me, now I give myself to thee.
Greek Hymn, translation by John Brownlie
THE FINAL TRIUMPH
Although we are united to Christ in the most intimate manner, dying with him
in Baptism and risen in newness of life, born again to new life, hidden in
Christ, yet, we are not promised "success," as this world counts success, in
this life. Nor are we exempt from suffering of all and various sorts.
Still, however much we suffer, we are promised final victory over sin, the
world, the flesh and the devil. We are described by Saint Paul as, "Buried
with him [Jesus] in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him."( Colossians 2:12) and admonished
that,"if ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, set your affections on things above
and not on things on the earth." And why? "For ye are dead and your life is
hid with Christ in God." And what follows from that? "When Christ WHO IS
YOUR LIFE, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory!" ( 3:
1-4) Baptized into Christ's life; his death and Resurrection, we have become
sons of God by adoption.
"God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law , that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father."
( Galations 4:4-6)
In the Sacrament of Confirmation, we,
"were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance, . . . . the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that
ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty
power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set
him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. . . and hath put all
things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to his
Church which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
(Ephesians 1: 13-23 )
Thus, Saint John exclaims:
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God :
therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not.
Beloved now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is!"
(I John 3: 1-2 )
To sustain this divine life in us, God has given us the Holy Sacrament of
his Body and blood.
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" the skeptical throng asked of
Christ.
"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in
you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath ETERNAL LIFE and I
will raise him up at the last day." (John 6: 52-54 )
Our Lord made a very mysterious comment at the Last Supper, as he gave the
Cup to the Disciples , he said, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit
of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
Kingdom." (Matthew 26:29)
What does he mean? They must have asked themselves. But, pause; cut to a
scene from the Revelation of St. John:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty
thunderings, saying Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour
to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her it was granted
that she should be arrayed in white linen, clean and white:
for the fine linen is the righteousness of the
saints. . . .Blessed are they which are called unto the
MARRIAGE SUPPER
of the lamb. (Revelation 19:6-9)
Here we have the fulfillment of that reference to drinking the fruit of the
vine, "with you in my Father's Kingdom." The Lamb is Jesus, "our passover,"
who "is sacrificed for us." The wife is, the Church. The Bride of Christ.
The white linen in which they are arrayed is the righteousness of Christ,
which alone permits us entre to that feast. Compare the story Christ told
about the wedding guest who showed up for the Royal wedding, "not having a
wedding garment." When questioned, by the King, the man was speechless.
"Then said the King to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him
away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22: 8-14)
This wedding garment is symbolized by the white baptismal robe. In earlier
times, the newly baptized wore their white robes until Pentecost. Whence,
the other name for Pentecost is Whitsunday, i.e., white Sunday.
John tells us how he saw, " a new heaven and a new earth," (Revelation
21:1) and in that new heaven, "God will dwell with his people, and "God
himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more
death neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain."
(v4 ) Christ then declares, "I am Alpha and Omega, ( The first and last
letters of the Greek alphabet ) the beginning and the end, I will give unto
him that is athrist" -- here my friends, at last, that thirst for the
infinite, that longing for the eternal with which we are born, here, at last
it is to be satisfied: " I will give to him that is athrist of the fountain
of the WATER OF LIFE!" (v6)
In the next chapter of his Revelation, Blessed John tells us how he saw the
River of the Water of Life. And "on either side of the river , was there
the tree of life. . . and there shall be no more curse." (22:2)
You remember the curse: God said to Adam: "Because thou has harkened unto
thy wife and hast eaten of the tree [ of the knowledge of good and evil, the
forbidden tree ] of which I commanded thee, thou shalt not eat of it, cursed
is the ground for thy sake. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth
to thee. . . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread til thou return
unto the ground, for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. . . .
So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned everyway, to keep the way of the
tree of life." (Genesis 3: 17-24)
But now, how changed is the matter! The sons of God are now permitted free
access to that from which, as sons of Adam, they were expelled. " Blessed
are they," exults the Evangelist, "that do his commandments that they may
have right to the tree of life!"
Of course there is another tree, interposed between the Tree whence expelled
and the tree wither welcomed: the tree of Calvary, whereon Our Lord hung for
the sins of the whole world. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us. For it is written:
[in Deuteronomy 21:23] 'Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.'"
(Galatians 3:10 )
So buried with him in baptism, raised to new life in Christ, and wearing the
robes of Christ's righteousness, the sons of God are given free access to
the tree of Life. And how are the Sons of God identified ? "His name shall
be in their foreheads!" ( Revelation 22:4 ) The Holy Name of the Blessed
Trinity placed on their forehead at their baptism, when the sign of the
Cross, the Tree of Redemption, was traced on that forehead. "In hoc signo
vinces!"
"And the Spirit and the Bride say come! And let him that heareth come. And
let him that is athrist come, whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely!" ( 22:17)
O God who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things
as eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, fill our hearts with such love toward thee, that we may
love all things in thee and for thee and thee above all things,
and so we may obtain that which thou hast promised, make us love
that which thou dost command, through Jesus Christ, thy Son ,
our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
unto ages of ages. Amen
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