Welcome!
THE SACRAMENTS
SESSION 4: SACRAMENTS OF SERVICE
WELCOME!
How can we help
people respond to
their vocations—
particularly if God calls
them to priesthood
or to marriage?
Session Schedule
 Opening Prayer
 Paired Activity
 Theme #1: Holy Orders
 Standing Activity
 Theme #2: Marriage
 Small Group Activity
 Closing Prayer
Opening Prayer:
“We are Called”
Refrain:
We are called to act with justice.
We are called to love tenderly.
We are called to serve one another,
to walk humbly with God.
Prayer for All Vocations
Heavenly Father, source of all life,
We praise you for your abundant blessings.
You sow your seed freely and generously among us.
You nourish, protect, sustain, and strengthen us on
our faith journey.
By our Baptism you call us by name and commission us
to sow your Word….
Prayer for All Vocations
We join our hearts and voices in prayer that you enrich your
Church with people who embrace the call to holiness and
service.
Bless each of us as we respond to your call.
May we encourage and support one another in
discerning and living out our Christian vocation.
Help us to foster a culture of vocation in which your seed will
bear much fruit.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, in the power of the
Holy Spirit, with your blessing now and forever. Amen!
Paired Activity:
A Vocation of Service
 Discuss examples of great priests
who’ve touched your life.
 List the qualities, characteristics
or virtues that they embody.
 How have they answered
their call, and how can their
example help others to do so?
Talk # 1: Holy Orders,
at the Service of Communion
 Christ: the “anointed one,”
the one High Priest
 All the baptized share in
Christ’s priesthood
 The ministerial priesthood
shares in Christ’s priesthood
in a special way through Holy
Orders
Holy Orders:
Bishop, Priest, Deacon
 Three degrees or “orders” to the gift of
sacred power, at service of Christ
 Christ is the perfect mediator between
God and his people
 Bishops and priests serve the Church in the
person of Christ, the Head of his Body
 “The ordained ministers exercise their
service for the People of God by teaching
(munus docendi), divine worship (munus
liturgicum), and pastoral governance
(munus regendi)” (CCC, n. 1592).
Steps and Rite of Ordination
1. Gathering
2. Calling of the Candidates
3. Presentation and Inquiry
4. Acceptance
5. Examination of the Candidate
6. Promise of Obedience
7. Prayer for the Candidates
8. Chanting of the Litany
9. Laying on of Hands
10. The one priesthood of Christ
11. Vesting the New Priest
12. Anointing of the Hands
13. Presentation of the Gifts
14. Liturgy of the Eucharist
15. Communion
"The essential rite of the sacrament
of Holy Orders for all three degrees
consists in the bishop’s imposition
of hands on the head of the
ordinand and in the bishop’s
specific consecratory prayer asking
God for the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit and his gifts proper to the
ministry to which the candidate is
being ordained."
(CCC, n. 1573)
Rite of Ordination
Scripture
Acts 6:5-6; 13:3; 14:23; 20:28; Jn 20:21-23; 1
Tim 3:1; 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6; Tit 1:5; Phil 1:1
Form
Bishop’s Consecratory Prayer
(CCC, nn. 1538; 1573)
Matter
Laying on of Hands by the Bishop
(CCC, n. 1538)
Effect
Indelible Character; Configuration Christ as
prophet, priest, and king (CCC, nn. 1581-89)
Who may be ordained?
 Christ chose the Twelve Apostles
as the foundation of the
ministerial priesthood
 The Church cannot change
essential aspects of Christ’s Sacraments
 Priesthood is sacramental: signs represent what
they signify; priests act in persona Christi
 Priests are “icons” of Christ,
the Bridegroom of the Church
The Spirituality of the Priest
 Seeking Christ, and inviting others to
follow him and to live in communion with him.
 Being nourished by the Word of God,
and responding with faith.
 Laying down one’s life,
at the service of the Church…
 Fishers of Men
Standing Activity:
Marriage made in Heaven
With a small group, discuss the Church’s vision of marriage.
Brainstorm essential “talking points” and consider using
symbols to summarize your responses to the following
questions:
 What are some film or TV examples of true love
in marriage?
 What advice would you give a young couple today?
 Who are couples you know that reflect this vision?
God is the Author of Marriage
 Marriage is written into both
Creation and Scripture
 Christ confirms the sacredness
and indissolubility of marriage
 Love of husband and wife reflects
the love of Christ and the Church
“The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they
came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution
despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in
different cultures, social structures and spiritual attitudes.” (CCC, no. 1603)
Matrimonial Covenant
& Liturgical Celebration
 “Father, you have made the
union of man and wife so holy
a mystery that it symbolizes
the marriage of Christ and his
Church…”
 Christ raises this covenantal
relationship to the dignity of a
Sacrament.
 Spouses are ministers of
Christ’s grace and express
their free consent before the
Church.
Dual Purposes of Marriage:
Union of the Couple & Procreation of Children
Scripture
Gen 1:27-28; 2:18-25; Mt 19:3-12;
Jn 2:1-11; Eph 5:25-32
Form
Exchange of Consent; Consummation
(CCC, nn. 1625-1628; 1640)
Matter
The Spouses Themselves
Effect
The Marriage Bond (“One Flesh”)
and Marital Grace
(CCC, nn. 1638-1642)
Strengthening Marriage
Family as a “domestic church”:
“The Christian home is the place where
the children receive the first proclamation
of the faith. For this reason the family is
rightly called ‘the domestic church,’
a community of grace and prayer,
a school of human virtues and of
Christian charity.” (CCC, n. 1666)
Spouses’ total gift of love-Sacramentally united with Christ’s love.
Made for Life: www.uniqueforareason.org
Small Group Activity:
The Family as “Domestic Church”
www.marriageuniqueforareason.org
www.couragerc.net
www.foryourmarriage.org
www.ilcatholic.org
+++++++++++++++++++++
 Which themes from the video did you find most compelling?
 What phrases and/or images from the video helped
express idea of the family being the “domestic church”?
 How can we help people reclaim a sacramental
understanding of marriage?
How can we help
people respond to
their vocations—
particularly if God calls
them to priesthood
or to marriage?
Follow-up Reflection and Resources
1) Session Evaluation & Feedback
2) Recommended follow-up:
US/CCA, ch. 20: “Holy Orders”
US/CCA, ch. 21:
“Sacrament of Marriage”
For questions on Same-sex Unions:
www.couragerc.net
3) For Catechists & Catholic School Teachers:
“Record of Formation,” including
required reflection & documentation
4) Session Course Lists & Powerpoints are available at:
www.dioceseofjoliet.org/layformation/
“Christ has no body…”
+St. Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Glory be to the Father…