‘Catholicism from Scratch’

Series reacquaints faithful with ‘basics’ of their faith

MADISON  Catholics use sacramentals all the time in their faith lives, even if they do not realize it — whether we say prayers, sing hymns, light candles, receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, wear religious medals or pray with the help of devotionals, such as the rosary, or devotional objects, such as prayer cards, crucifixes or pieces of religious art.

That’s what Father Paul Manning, executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard here, told enthusiastic and curious Catholics on Feb. 27 during “Ashes, Palms, Lilies and Mangers (Celebrations and Sacramentals),” the latest session in his ongoing series at the center, called ‘Catholicism from Scratch’ The presenter, who also serves as diocesan Vicar for Evangelization, called sacramentals “outward signs that bear a resemblance to Sacraments and get us spiritually ready to receive the Sacraments and the grace of God which is a share in God’s own life.”

“Sacramentals encourage us to be open to God and strengthen the grace that we receive in the Sacraments, so that we can live our Baptism more fully to live Christian lives,” said Father Manning, during the Saturday-morning session in one of the center’s classrooms that was filled with faithful. “Sacramentals encourage us to get serious about our Christianity, for we are all called to make the world holy, speak God’s Word and lead others to God.”

Although the words sound similar, sacramentals differ greatly from the seven Sacraments, which “are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us…[and] bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions,” states “The Catechism of the Catholic Church,” 131. They “do what they signify” — dispense grace by the action of God and the work that the priest performs — independently of our own participation or power, although we have to be open to God for them to “bear fruit,” Father Manning said.

“The seven Sacraments are the crux of Catholicism, most especially the Eucharist. Baptism is the door that welcomes us into the house of faith, but it’s the Eucharist that gives us a seat at the table,” Father Manning said. “Baptism begins our life in Christ, but that life will starve and die if it is not fed. Our spiritual life is fed with the grace of the Sacraments,” he said.

Unlike the Sacraments, sacramentals are “sacred signs instituted by the Church” that “prepare men to receive the fruit of the Sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life,” states the Catechism, 1677. Also, Catholics need to be open to God for sacramentals to be effective from the outset. Sacramentals also include blessings, consecrations, dedications, and exorcisms, Father Manning said.

The Catholic tradition of using sacramentals finds its roots in the Incarnation, the mystery of God becoming man. At that time, “the physical and the earthly have become vehicles of the spiritual and the heavenly” and “physical objects and human actions have the potential to become occasions of grace.” In John 9: 6-12, Jesus heals a blind man by spitting on the ground, mixing his saliva with clay, applying it to the man’s eyes and telling him to wash it off, the priest said.

“Jesus used earthly things to indicate and communicate divine realities,” Father Manning said.

During the two-hour-long “Catholicism from Scratch” sessions, Father Manning encourages audience members to ask questions, which on Feb. 27 included more detailed inquires about grace and the Sacraments. Now in its third year, the course runs on a two-year cycle and “presents the basics of the Catholic faith as a ‘brush-up’ for those who missed it the first time around or those who never heard it before,” the priest said.

The second half of Father Manning’s presentation on Feb. 27 focused on the Liturgical Year in the Church. The Scripture readings follow a three-year cycle with a focus now on Luke, but, in other years, feature Matthew and Mark. We usually hear John during Lent and Advent. Different colors of vestments and the worship space signify different liturgical seasons, such as white for Easter and Christmas, green for the Epiphany and Pentecost and violet for Advent and Lent, Father Manning said.

“Holy Mother Church believes that she should celebrate the saving work of her divine spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the course of the year. Once each week, on the day, which she has called the Lord’s Day, she keeps the memory of the Lord’s Resurrection. She also celebrates it once every year, together with his blessed Passion, at Easter, that most solemn of all feasts,” said Father Manning, quoting the Catechism, 1163. “In the course of the year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ…Thus recalling the mysteries of the redemption, she opens up to the faithful the riches of her Lord’s powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present in every age; the faithful lay hold of them and are filled with saving grace.”

The current “Catholicism from Scratch” series began in September and has explored “Who Says? (The Bible, Tradition and the Church),” “Three, Two, One (Trinity, Incarnation and Sanctification)” and “Stairway to Heaven (The Last Things).” Upcoming sessions will examine “Outside In and Inside Out (The Sacraments)” on March 19, “Into Your Hands (Sacraments of Vocation) on April 16 and “All in Order (The Hierarchy)” on May 14. Sessions run from 10 a.m. to noon on those designated Saturdays.

After the latest session, Bob Scirocco of Holy Family Parish, Florham Park, told The Beacon that he has been attending “Catholic from Scratch” from the beginning.

“Father Paul is a wealth of information and knowledge,” Scirocco said. “Everything that I didn’t learn in the Catholic school, I’m learning now. Among those many things, I learned how Catholicism relates to the Bible and how everything at Mass — like the prayers — has a basis in the Bible. It has made me appreciate Mass much more,” he said.

Information: (973) 377-1004 or www.insidethewalls.org.