Sacrament of Service

Sacraments: Matrimony

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.”
Genesis 2:24

Matrimony is one of the two sacraments of service. Married couples promise to serve each other with love and to serve the whole Church. They enter into a lifelong covenant of love. This is their vocation. They serve the Church by their love and they share in God’s creation in a special way when they give birth to children. In Matrimony, God gives a man and woman the special grace and blessings to build a Christian family together. The Church celebrates the call to love in a special way in the sacrament of Matrimony or marriage.

The Sacrament of Matrimony, whereby a man and woman are joined together in a life-long union of procreative love, is a calling from God. The creator established this purpose from the very beginning by the very manner in which He made men and women. Jesus taught that the nature of marriage itself reflects the indivisible unity of the love of God. In this way Jesus raised the natural bond of marriage to a supernatural sacrament of life and love.

Sacraments: Holy Orders
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
1 Timothy 1:6

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the ordained ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by the prayer of consecration. Our ordained ministers serve the Catholic community by:

The sacrament of Holy Orders is celebrated during Mass. Only a bishop can ordain another bishop, priest or deacon. In ordaining priests, the bishop lays his hands on the head of each candidate and prays silently. This is the most important sign n the sacrament of Holy Orders. Then the bishop prays a prayer of consecration or the prayer that “makes holy”. Each candidate for the priesthood is also anointed with holy oil. This is a sign of his special sharing in Christ’s own priesthood through the ordained ministry. Each new priest receives a paten and a chalice with which to lead the community in celebrating the Eucharist. Priests are Christ’s representatives on earth. Like Baptism and Confirmation, Holy Orders confers an indelible character and cannot be repeated.The sacrament of holy orders is conferred in three ranks: bishops, priests, and deacons. Ordination is the sacramental ceremony in which a man becomes a deacon, priest, or bishop and enabled to minister in Christ’s name and that of the Church. There are three ordinations in the Sacrament of Holy Orders: diaconate; priesthood; and episcopal.

Bishops  are those who have care of multiple congregations (diocese) and have the task of appointing, ordaining, and disciplining priests and deacons, and shepherding the larger Christian community. They are often called ‘evangelists’ in the New Testament. Examples of first century bishops include Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. 5:19-22, 2 Tim. 4:5, Titus 1:5).

Priests  are also known as “presbyters” or “elders.” In fact, the English term “priest” is simply a contraction of the Greek word “presbuteros. They have the responsibility of teaching, governing, and performing the sacraments in a given congregation (1 Tim. 5:17, Jas. 5:14-15). Like bishops, they receive their priesthood in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Deacons  are the assistants of the bishops and have the task of teaching and administering certain church functions, such as the distribution of food, caring for the sick, preaching, etc. (Acts 6:1-6).