Sacraments are central to our faith and they have been given to the Church by Christ. St. Augustine defines a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” This word sacrament comes from the Greek word, mysterion, and the Latin word, sacramentum. Mysterion means something which is hidden or secret, this is where we get the word mystery.
Sacraments depend upon signs and symbols which signify a sacred reality. For example we have the symbol of bread which points towards the reality of the sign which is Christ being present with us in the Eucharist. With all of the signs and symbols which surround us inside of the Church it is easy to fail to go deeper.
Despite going deeper and learning more about the sacraments we must also come to trust in grace. So often we fail to put God first in our life. Sometimes people even approach the sacraments without putting God first. A baptism is an important time to celebrate, but this celebration should not overshadow the effect of the sacrament. Confirmation is not dependent upon the knowledge of the receiver, but rather the gift that God gives within the sacrament.
How we approach the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can also be reflective of this same reality. We so easily allow ourself to lose the transcendent nature of the Mass. Instead of approaching the Mass from the direction of drawing us closer to God we so often get caught up by placing ourself at the center. Our priority then becomes the music, the preaching, and the entertainment that we receive. We instead must learn to place our trust in the Lord who incorporates our lives into the worship of the Father. Let us be willing to delve further than what we see with our sight, but allow the Lord to transform our lives through this encounter.
In our Gospel we encounter this man who was blind. Despite his lack of sight he desired to see what was concealed from his eyes. With faith he cried out to the Lord and exclaimed, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Through his exclamation he exhibited his faith in an unseen reality which was present. Through his persistence and faith the Lord came to heal him and he was finally able to see what had been concealed from his sight.
So too through all that is taking place around us in the sacraments and liturgy have a profound effect upon us. So often we focus on us instead of God who is present in each of these realities. Let us come to encounter these realities with faith and the desire to see just like Bartimaeus. Sight will never come if everything is turned inwardly upon ourself, but with our attention placed outwardly upon God we will allow the Lord to be at work within us and to bring sight to our eyes.
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