Sacraments are central for Catholics. They help us meet the incarnate Jesus, who comes to us through cleansing water and invigorating oil to welcome us, life-giving bread and wine that become Christ’s Body and Blood, a hand outstretched in forgiveness, vows lovingly exchanged in marriage, a hand designating someone for ordained service and oil to strengthen the sick and comfort the dying.
In these sacraments children receive God’s grace as they journey in faith with their family and parish community. St John’s provides a comprehensive sacramental program to prepare both parents and children for the reception of the sacraments. Children must be baptised within the Catholic Church to be part of the sacramental program.
The Sacrament of Baptism is the first sacrament all Christians receive. Through baptism we become children of God and are embraced into the family of the Church. Baptism removes the guilt and effects of the wound of sin and incorporates the baptised into the Church. This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by …
In the celebration of Eucharist, the bread and wine which are bought up to the altar during the Offertory become the Body and Blood of Christ. In the early church, the hallmark of being a Christian was to gather with other believers on the Lord’s Day to celebrate the Breaking of the Bread. It is …
Confirmation is about renewing one’s baptismal promises before receiving communion for the first time. In the early church, initiation consisted of immersion in water (Baptism), laying on of hands and anointing with chrism by the bishop (Confirmation), and finally joining the community for the first time at the Lord’s table (The Eucharist), all of which …
Reconciliation is officially called the Sacrament of Penance. In the past, it was also called Confession. These titles suggest aspects of the meaning of the Sacrament. During this sacrament, a Catholic confesses their sins to a priest in the spirit of true repentance and receives forgiveness. The priest acts as a visible representative of Christ, …
When a Catholic is very sick, the Church anoints the person with oil in a special ritual of healing called Anointing of the Sick. This sacrament is administered both to those at the point of death and for any of the faithful who were seriously ill and in danger of death. It is a ritual …
Marriage is the intimate union and equal partnership of a man and a woman. It comes to us from God who created male and female in His image, so that they might become one body and might be fertile and multiply (Genesis – Chapters 1 & 2). In seeing Marriage between two baptised persons as …
Holy Orders gives the ordained person a sacred power in the name and authority of Christ and through the Holy Spirit, to serve the people of God. There are three different orders or dimensions of ordination in the Catholic Church: bishop, priest and deacon. In the Catholic Church, bishops and priests are obliged to celibacy, to remain unmarried. Married …
