SACRAMENTS, SYMBOLS, &
RITUAL
Symbol & Ritual
 Lion King Baptism Scene
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXjI2kuNk
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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YHzhev
Y1Jk
 What symbols and actions are there and what
do you think is the deeper significance?
Symbol & Ritual
 Sign
 An object that refers to a specific thing.
 Symbol
 an object or action that points us to another reality.
 It leads us to look beyond our senses to consider a
deeper mystery.
 Ritual
 The established form of words and actions for a
ceremony that is repeated often.
 The actions often have a symbolic meaning.
Importance of Symbols & Rituals
 Unify
 Tangible way of expressing intangible
realities
 Transcend everyday experience and point
toward deeper meaning
 Transition rituals – new states in life
 Intensification rituals – reinforce community
beliefs and practices.
Importance of Symbols & Rituals
 Sacred Space
 Sacred Time
 Sacred Meaning
 Significant places, moments, and ideas
 Both Personal and communal significance
 Beyond explanation – mysterious
Homework
 Read article 7 & write a definition of
sacrament to share with the class.
 Group worksheet – Identifying symbols and
rituals (from textbook)
 Does the fact that all religions and all people
have sacraments (sacred symbols and rituals)
diminish or enhance the Catholic
Sacraments?
 What makes the Catholic Sacraments unique?
Symbols, Rituals, &
Sacraments
 Sacraments, Symbols, & rituals = language of
communication with God.
 Paschal Mystery – core of every Sacrament
 It is what we celebrate and participate in by letting go
of our former self (dying) and living a life in Christ
(rising)
 Jesus – great sign and symbol of God’s love for us
 Church – sacrament of God’s life and love
 Communicates God’s presence to the world.
Sacrament
 sacramental – when tangible symbols and
rituals are used to reveal a deeper meaning
 Stations of cross, holy water, crucifix
 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 disposition.
Experiences of Grace
 Grace – gift of life and relationship with God
offered freely to us.
 Sanctifying grace – permanent disposition
enabling us to live in relationship with God
given through Baptism and renewed in the
other Sacraments
 Actual graces – God’s interventions in our
lives.
 Example – Mission trip to New Orleans
 Redemption – “to buy back; rescue” - given
the power through Christ over sin and death.