PASTORAL LETTER 2010
after duly instructing them in the Christian faith. He would impart them God’s forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, after he prepared them for it. He administered Communion, celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass.30 Besides, in Calvinist territory, where there was no opportunity to celebrate the Mass, he would disguise himself, carry the consecrated Host secretly and, gathering the people either in secret places or in Christian houses, administer Holy Communion to them. He also joined in the Sacrament of Marriage those living together without getting married.
The Sacraments are special means for the human being to grow in holiness, to build up the Body of Christ and to give glory to God. Through them one receives grace to live the Christian life.31 Through them we enter into the life of the Church, we are healed and are sent for a particular ministry. Each step of Christian life is enriched and made meaningful by the sacraments.32 The Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian life, has a special place among the Sacraments.33 In it, God kindles our hearts through His Word (Lk 24:32), enlightens our path (Ps 119:105) and gives us new life in the Flesh and Blood of His Son (Jn 6:51). To perpetuate this gift, He commands his disciples at the Last Supper: ‘Do this in memory of Me” (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24. 25).
Divine life reaches the human heart through the Sacraments. For Christians to share in the Life of the Spirit, Jesus Christ, in His wisdom and generosity, institutes the seven Sacraments. In order to experience the riches of the Sacraments, we simply need
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30 Cf. Rego, Vida, pp. 32-34
31 Cf. The Constitution on the Sacred Litrugy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963), no. 59.
32 Cf. CCC, nos. 1210-1211.
33 Cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10; also cf. Instruction from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004), no. 2.
Golden Verse
2nd Corinthians 10:16
and even so as to evangelize in those places that are beyond you, not in order to glory in the measure of others, but rather in those things which have already been prepared.