Signs, Symbols, Sacraments

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Come up with 5 physical, non-verbal gestures that communicate something with another person. Keep it appropriate and try and think of things that most people would recognize.

Why signs and symbols? We are physical and spiritual beings  As humans, we have a body and a soul We learn through the use of our senses We both express and understand abstract realities through concrete expressions in symbols  Words => Thoughts and Understanding

Sign vs. Symbol vs. Sacrament Sign is anything that points to something else Usually has one simple meaning  Smoke, thunder, etc. Symbol is a special sign that conveys a deep meaning, or multiple layers of meaning  Heart, cross, etc.  Three characteristics that distinguish a sign from a symbol: 1. A symbol may have more than one meaning 2. What a symbol stands for is connected to what it is 3. A symbol evokes more than one kind of response from us Sacrament is an efficacious symbol  Efficacious – a sacrament is, and brings about, what it represents  “Outward sign of an inward grace.” – St. Augustine

Sacraments 1. The sacraments are signs  Water, fire, oil, bread and wine, laying on hands 2. The sacraments are efficacious  They are effective, through the action of the Holy Spirit 3. The sacraments convey grace  Sanctifying grace  Sacramental graces 4. Some confer a sacramental character 5. Require proper disposition

Sacraments “A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” (Baltimore Catechism 3.574) The Sacraments are "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” CCC 1131 “‘Seated at the right hand of the Father’ and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature. By the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present efficaciously the grace that they signify.” (CCC 1084)

Liturgy “The people of God participating in the work of God” Trinitarian  Ordered to the Father  With the Son  In the Holy Spirit The faithful of the Church express and perceive spiritual realities through physical gestures, rituals, signs, and symbols

Revelation as Symbolic Our God recognizes us as symbolic creatures and communicates with us through symbols. “Revelation, the self-communication or unveiling of God to humankind takes place through symbols. These symbols are that through which God is present and loving to humankind.” (Anne Marie Mongoven, O.P.)  Created world  Old Testament  Jesus Christ  Church  Sacraments

Humans as symbol-makers “Among all the creatures on earth, the human being is the only symbol-making creature for he, she, or they consciously represent and express themselves through symbols. In this way human beings image and participate in the life of the Divine Being who is the symbol maker par excellence.” What symbolizes you?

Sacraments and the State of Grace Go to the following webpage, and read this article:  Answer the following questions: 1. What is the significance of the term “ex opere operato?” 2. What is the heresy of Donatism? 3. According to St. Augustine, what happened to those whom Judas baptized? 4. What is the basic stance of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, the Council of Trent, and the Catechism on this issue? Does a sacrament depend upon the holiness of the minister? Why or why not? 5. According to the Church’s teaching, who actually works the sacrament?