1. Sacraments
CCC 1131 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 to those who receive them with the required dispositions.

2. Sacraments Cont..
Our word sacrament comes from the Latin word “sacramentum.” From where did “sacramentum” originate?
It was originally the initiation oath taken by Roman soldiers as they joined the army.
Sacraments are also referred to by the Greek word “mysterion” which means “mystery” or something holy or sacred which would sanctify a man to accomplish a mission.

3. Sacraments
CCC 1123 “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the body of Christ, and finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs, they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strenghten, and express it. That is why they are called “sacraments of faith.”
CCC1116 Sacraments are “powers that come forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting convenant.

4. Signs of God’s Power
The substance of a sacrament is made up of its matter and form.
The words are called the form of the sacrament .
The matter is the actions or objects.
For instance with Baptism the form is “I baptize you in the Name of the…”
The matter is the water.

5. Signs of God’s Power
It is proper to call the Roman Catholic Church Sacrament because namely the Church is a sign of grace, instituted by Christ, and grace is dispensed to us through the various ministries of the Church, especially in the sacraments and the proclamation of the Word of God.
God made us sensible creatures. This means that we experience everything through our senses. For this reason, Jesus left us the sacraments that would use the things we can experience with our senses as conduits or pipelines through which grace can enter within us.