“he stretched out his hand, touched him…”

“Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands, mud and washing. The sick try to touch him, ‘for power came forth from him and healed them all.’ And so in the Sacraments, Christ continues to ‘touch’ us in order to heal us. [1]

“In order to apply to men the merits of His life and Passion, our Blessed Lord instituted seven Sacraments. These Sacraments act ex opera operato, provided all the conditions for their action are present; but they act in proportion to our dispositions. We must, therefore, not only receive them, but try to receive them well.” [2]

What does ex opera operato mean? Ex opera operato means “from the work performed”, this means that the Sacrament has grace simply because it is the work of Christ and is performed by the priest, who is in the person of Christ. The Sacraments are the works of Christ. He is working in the Sacraments, and thus the Sacraments are real and grace-filled.

Sacraments are not a sign or symbol; they are the work of Christ. The work of Christ through the Sacrament cannot be lessened by the minister. In other words if the priest lacks faith or is a sinful man, the work of Christ is not lessened. Is there anything that could make a Sacrament invalid?Yes. All the conditions for the Sacrament’s action must be present. What are the conditions necessary for the Sacraments? “Every Sacrament consists of two things: matter, which is called the element, and form, which is commonly called the word.” [3] We have to have the right matter (stuff) and the right form (words).

What is the correct matter and form for each sacrament?
[See the Sacrament Chart on the main page document section]

In today’s Gospel we see that Jesus uses both matter and form as He heals the leper. His very touch is the matter, “he stretched out his hand, touched him”. The form is His words, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

Bottle Whistle The Sacraments are like a bottle whistle. To make a whistle out of a bottle all we need to do is have a bottle and blow air across the opening of the bottle. The bottle and the wind do all the work. Many children when being taught how to make a whistle sound from the bottle and air, try to make the sound themselves. When they try to make the sound themselves from their own lips, the bottle whistles does not work. The bottle can be compared to the matter of a Sacraments, the blow or air can be compared to the form or words spoken. All we have to do is allow the Sacrament to happen, for it is truly Christ at work, not us, our role is to be receptive.

How can we allow the work of Christ, through the Sacraments, have the most impact in our life? The work of Christ through the Sacraments will act or have an impact in proportion to our disposition. The leper is the example of the perfect disposition in which to approach, receive, and accept the Sacraments. The beauty of the Sacraments is that they are effective and grace filled for us, not because of us. There is nothing we can do to add or take away from the Sacrament, but we can through our disposition, block or inhibit the grace that is offered to us.
 
What helps us to receive the Sacraments, so that we may get the most out them? [4] To help us do this [receive the Sacraments well], the Church makes use of solemn ceremonies in administering the Sacraments. The Council of Trent thus explains the part played by these ceremonies:

1. They surround these Holy Mysteries with a religious respect.
2. They help to make the Sacraments more effective by, in some sense, picturing them before our eyes, at the same time imprinting the holiness they produce more deeply in our hearts.
3. They excite in our souls sentiments of faith and charity, which dispose them in the best possible way to receive all the fruits of a Sacrament. All the Sacraments produce sanctifying grace, which heals our souls and raises them to a supernatural state.

Why is it important to be respectful and reverence in the preparation and reception of the Sacraments? As stated above our reverence and respect enables us “in the best possible way to receive all the fruits of a Sacrament.” We can ask for the Gift of the Holy Spirit called Piety. “Piety: One of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which leads on to devotion to God (1831). Filial piety connotes an attitude of reverence and respect by children toward their parents (2215). Piety also refers to the religious sense of a people, and its expression in popular devotions (1674).” [5] Holy Mother Church, just like our own earthly mothers, give us rules or disciplines, so that we can get the best or the most out of what we are given. Teachers and coaches give us rules and discipline so that we can get the most out of the instruction. The Church gives us important rules in regards to how to celebrate the Mass and the Sacraments. These rules are also called norms, rubrics, instructions, or disciplines and are contained in the liturgical books such as the Rites and Roman Missal. In these books there are black text and red text. A popular saying in the formation of priests is “do the red, say the black.” This is very similar to the script of a play that gives “stage directions” which are similar to the red and the “script” itself, which is similar to the black.
 
“Boy Meets World Eric Hollywood” The character of the show gets ask to play a role of a typical older brother, however all he has ever done is Shakespeare plays. Imagine going to a Shakespeare play in which the actors did not follow the stage directions or the script. The actions and dialogue could be altered in such a way that one might not consider it a Shakespeare play at all. The same is true of sports. There are rules that must be followed. Imagine a basketball game in which most of the rules were broken, you could no longer call the game basketball, for it might resemble basketball, but would not be basketball.

Don’t rules and structure make things boring? Sports have rules. Music has rules. Yet, our culture cannot get enough of either. Pretty much all TV Shows; whether they are sitcoms or reality based, follow rules, structures and patterns. For example, American Idol has the same judges, same cast of nobodies who try to sing on a show where they can win fame. They are voted off by America. NCIS, CSI, Law and Order SVU and other shows similar to them have a dead body (or bodies), they try to figure out who killed the person (or people), and bring them to justice. Phineas and Ferb a Disney cartoon uses the same pattern every episode. In season 3, episode 20 “Tri-Stone Area” the writers change the look of all the characters and even use a “caveman” language so that the viewer doesn’t know what is being said. Due to the constant pattern of the series, the viewer knows exactly what is going on and the episode is entertaining. In the Liturgy, we have the same pattern or template, what changes are the feasts, the readings, some prayers and the sentiments that we carry in our heart and mind. Pattern does not make things boring, we do. We must be careful though not to think of Mass as a television show where we may think, “oh, I’ve seen this episode before” and tune out. The difference is the Mass is the same one as Jesus celebrated 2,000 years ago and is not just a “recreation” or “representation” of what took place. It is the moment every time when Heaven comes down to Earth, and we kneel in awe and in thanksgiving.

TV Commercial - NFL Timeline This commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl, expresses what was spoken about in the previous question when dealing with rules and safety.

[1] CCC – 1504
[2] Roman Catholic Daily Missal; 1962; The Sacraments
[3] Catechism of the Council of Trent; The Sacraments
[4] Roman Catholic Daily Missal; 1962; The Sacraments
[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church - Glossary