Explaining the Faith - Are You Saved? The Sacraments

welcome everybody from again around the world i'm father chris aylar coming to you live from the national shrine of the divine mercy here in stockbridge massachusetts and it's still a bit snowy but warming up here and in the northeast we got hit pretty good but god bless all of you for taking the time to join us today we are going to talk about something that is the main reason we are catholic versus any other christian religion and in if you're not catholic god bless you welcome but it's the reason you should be and i say that with a lot of love i'm not at all pointing fingers i'm just saying this is the beautiful gift that god gives us and it's called the sacraments and so i'm going to give an overview of the sacraments and this is so powerful that i had a sacrament class for each of the sacraments in seminary and so you are catechism students i keep telling you i'm taking you back to seminary i pulled out my seminary notes i went through it again i put this together for you and i'm condensing in a whole semester into one talk today we're going to focus on an overview of the sacraments and the sacrament of baptism and what you probably didn't know and what i have forgotten so thank you for joining us let's begin with a prayer in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen heavenly father we ask you send the holy spirit down upon us to give us that blessing of blood and water and that water of that baptismal grace renewing us renewing us our vows renewing us our our grace that has been given to us through the sacraments and we ask all this in through the name of christ our lord amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen all right now of all the religions of the world and there are tens of thousands and in fact even christian some say there's as many as forty thousand which one is the truth which one you can't have forty thousand different truths it's theoretically and practically and scientifically impossible you can't have forty thousand different truths now each of those forty thousand religions christian religions have a different truth and if they didn't they would be the same religion so which of those forty thousand has the truth well there can only be one truth i go with the one that christ started only the catholic church goes back to jesus christ for 1500 years there was no other christian faith now what then makes us different than every one of those forty thousand the sacraments and people say well father our church believes in communion not in the real presence the way we do as catholics father our faith believes in different things well yes god bless you but we're going to explain to you why you're catholic today and again if not welcome please all i ask of you is to open your heart to say maybe the sacraments are the reason that i should look at the catholic faith that's all we're asking of you today open your heart this is amazing now we are the only one with the sacraments and you know we are actually commanded by god to receive the sacraments father where does that say where's that in the bible yes we are we that's what makes us the one true faith because god commanded us to to receive the sacraments and there's only one faith that receives the sacraments in the way that we do especially the real presence what do i mean well john 6 the eucharist unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you or that we must be born of water and the spirit that is baptism john 6 is the eucharist i could go on so these are what tells us so and they say so they are that's where god is commanding us to receive the sacraments so christ tells look at another one even confession christ told the apostles who you forgive they are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained matthew 16 19 matthew 18 18 john 20 23 basically these are christ giving his authority to who the priest to do what forgive sins now that grace comes from god please understand i'm not saying the grace comes from them but god uses the priest as a tool it's an instrumental part of what he established in his church and there's a very important reason the priest is who he is despite his sinfulness and we'll talk about that now the catholic church is the only one who has formalized the sacraments to guarantee grace yes other people believe in ordinations in the anglican church and whatnot but in terms of guaranteed grace that we receive in confession or the eucharist this is uniquely catholic the catholic church is the only one who has formalized it to make sure that that grace is guaranteed for you not by their own authority i should say yes by their own authority but the authority given by christ to them people say father i am not into a religion made made by man no the religion was made by jesus entrusted to man i don't listen to the rules of men well i don't either i listen to the rules of jesus but given to his chosen men called the priests and the bishops that's who he chose to give his grace through them to help us understand how to receive and do what god asks us to do it makes perfect sense if you think about it i just there is nothing that gets me more fired up than the sacraments these sacraments are it these are the answer this is even what last night we did first fridays today at three o'clock we'll do first saturday devotion what is it based on the sacraments confession holy communion and in it wow okay so all right so anyway um this is what we need we need this is the grace for salvation you know when somebody says to you and i used to get stopped in walmart have you been saved and i never really knew how to answer that what do you say when somebody stops you and says have you been saved yeah why because i believe in jesus yeah but you've been saved when those people ask you have you been saved you say yes i've been baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit i've received the sacrament of baptism i have been saved and as long as i stay true to those vows of baptism and living my christian faith i will have eternal life beautiful all right perhaps we catholics are like the laborers in the in the uh remember the laborers that parable where some of the laborers worked all day long and at the end of the day the owner sent a few other vineyard people workers into the vineyard for the last hour i always thought this was a fascinating parable and at the end of the day it came time to pay them well the way our human mind works the guys that worked all day expected to get more money than the guy who worked the last hour now here's what's interesting the owner paid those guys that worked all day the wage they had agreed on he did not cheat them so the people who came they agreed that the owner that they would work all day in the vineyard and they would get this amount of pay and he did they got it now here comes these other few people and they worked the last hour and the owner decided to pay them a full wage too and the first workers got angry now you can kind of see that but the owner said wait a minute he said i did i cheat you you know this is matthew by the way matthew verse chapter 20 verse 1 through 16. and so those who worked are kind of like well let me put it this way this is probably a better way to put it those without the sacraments are like those who worked all day it seems unfair that both group got the same wages and yet we as catholics get eternal life through them so it seems unfair that we are given all this extra help this sacramental help this extra grace this easier grace so to speak it's kind of like whoa that's the easy way yeah that's actually what the sacraments are you want to know the quickest surest easiest way father mike talks about miriam consecration yes but it's still based on the sacraments the sacraments are the quickest easiest surest way and mary leads us to the sacraments this is amazing the the judge or the owner of the vineyard said is it not lawful for me to do what i wish with my own money did i cheat you no i gave you your money but i wish to give these although they've only worked an hour this extra grace that's like our sacraments here these people are laboring in the vineyard and here we catholics have the opportunity to get this i don't want to say the word easy grace but guaranteed grace if it doesn't need to be all day it's it's something that could be installed in an instant into our soul fascinating and the others aren't being cheated as i just said i just it's like the owner saying i just gave something special to the other group basically i didn't cheat you i just gave something special to the group that came in late and that's my choice as the owner of this vineyard sorry if you don't like it but i have the right to do that that is basically what god has done here with the sacraments so we don't deserve it well father what makes you as a catholic so special what makes you deserve this nothing nothing we don't deserve to be born yet we're born again when we're baptized we don't deserve the bread we eat but yet we are given the bread of life in the eucharist this is amazing we are given all this and more in the sacraments so let's look at our next slide that brother mark's going to put up of all the religions as i said look at that all the religions around the world what makes us different and the only one like us the sacraments this is what makes us different and they only come through the catholic church god bless you for holding on to your faith and again please i invite all of you who are non-catholics stay with us all i'm trying to do is show you where there is so much powerful grace of god given through this is a gift and i want you to have that gift i'm not condemning you because you're not catholic or you don't have these i've been saying inviting you come look at these gifts that god gave you might want to consider him praise be god and so we keep going now jesus's words basically when he lived announced and prepared the world for what he was going to give the church the mysteries of christ's life are the foundations of what we would now get in the sacraments and what he would dispense in the sacraments and through the ministers of the church listen to this quote what was visible in our savior has passed over into his mysteries of the sacraments that was pope leo the great he said that way before there existed any other christian religion the christian faith only knew the sacraments there was no other faith of christianity that denied the sacraments so if christ is going to start a church i don't think he's going to say i'm going to start a church which he did but i'm going to get it wrong for 1500 years until martin luther gets it right i don't think so so when leo the great said this it made sense the sacraments are powers he said that come from the corp come forth from the body of christ how do we know that it's scriptural father where is this in the bible all right the sacraments are powers that come forth from the body of christ scriptural luke 5 17 luke 6 19 luke 8 46 i could go on and on this is beautiful all right they are the actions of the holy spirit at work in the body of christ the church that's what the sacraments are they're not just symbols they do something and you know i've i've said this before but you guys are my catechism students you are marian students and you're coming back to seminary with me and one of the things they do is teachers keep repeating things to get you to stick with them and you've heard me give you the definition of sacrament probably half a dozen times i'm going to do it again what is a sacrament a sacrament does something it's not just a symbol it's actual grace when you get it if you're properly ready for it the grace is guaranteed jesus promises so what's a sacrament it's an efficacious sign meaning it does something efficacious of god's grace instituted by christ and entrusted to the church by which divine life is instilled in us are you kidding me here is something that jesus instituted gives to us by which to give us divine life i don't think it's something we want to reject and i think as catholics it's something we need to get regularly even though yes we know the churches are closed you may be quarantined but remember the catechism 1452 tells us that if you are sick quarantined or you know whatever reason you can't get the churches closed that you can make an act of contrition for forgiveness of sins or an act of spiritual communion to receive god in you like the eucharist and then have the intent to come back to the sacraments as soon as possible so you you don't have to worry that i'm getting no grace yes we can and that was actually the topic of last saturday if you're watching me this week but you didn't see last saturday i go into all that and it's called how to receive graces during a pandemic and it's still out on youtube all right let's keep going all right the sacraments are guaranteed now before i show have mark show you the next video you all remember your sacraments hopefully baptism confirmation eucharist reconciliation repentance anointing of the sick holy orders and matrimony now i found an awesome little clip it's not even two minutes that gives you a summary of those seven sacraments let me have mark show you brother mark show you this quick video your spiritual life begins at baptism it is matured at confirmation your soul is healed in reconciliation your body is healed and anointing of the sick families are made with marriage the church is sustained with holy orders and christ is present in the eucharist the sacraments are what christ did on earth christ told us we must be born of water and spirit to enter his kingdom he desires us to receive his holy spirit he forgives the sins of his children christ wants us to live in peace and to be cured of our ailments he brings two people together and makes them one flesh he called peter to be our first pope and the apostles are first leaders and he gave his flesh and blood to be received everything he did he still does in the sacraments three sacraments give us the grace we need to be holy in this life and spread the gospel to the world two sacraments heal us when we are wounded either in body or in soul two sacraments are directed towards the salvation of others sacraments of vocation the seven sacraments of our faith the sacraments nourish our faith [Music] they are not just to be received they are to be celebrated are to be lived we receive them in here so christ can be known out there okay isn't that a good little clip to just give you a basic understanding maybe a refresher for you or an introduction for your children beautiful grandchildren all right now the sacraments are organized into three categories let's have brother mark show the first slide these are the sacraments of initiation and what are the sacraments of initiation they are baptism confirmation and the eucharist okay so on those slides basically the faithful are born anew by baptism you were born that's why nicodemus said do i go back in my mother's womb you're born anew all right you are strengthened in confirmation and then you are nourished in the eucharist that's why the eucharist is daily it has to keep nursing you need food every day your body needs food every day to move forward so does your soul and so let's look at our next group on the next slide of the sacraments of healing now to heal the soul is confession penance to heal the body is anointing of the sick god leaves nothing out here we are humans we are body soul composites so to heal the soul we have confession to have the body we have anointing of the sick almost everybody in this world believes in doctors the healing of the body why wouldn't people believe in the soul that needs healing too so that's penance for the soul anointing for the body let's go to our third category mark puts up the sacraments of service and these are matrimony or holy orders if you are married your service is to your spouse and your family if you're an ordained priest like i'm trying to do with you guys my goal in life your goal as a parent is to teach your children love them provide for them as a spouse is to be there in unity and bring new life into the world through your spouse my service as a whole in holy orders as a priest is to get you to heaven now you should be doing that with your spouse and family too but mine is to educate you in the faith to know god more so you can love him more and then when you love him more you are able to get to heaven and all of us have different roles we have some priests here through the role and suffering we have other priests here that are brothers or priests here that are doing it through teaching you have other priests and brothers here like brother mark who are doing it through their skills to bring you this live stream and so we all have roles in our our our daily function as religious to bring you to heaven that's service all right now all sacraments are directed to the holy eucharist this is what thomas aquinas said as their end each of these sacraments lead us to the holy eucharist the source and summit of our faith all right so christ has entrusted the sacraments to his church in only the church not our bedrooms well i mean we live out the sacrament of like matrimony in the bedroom of course but that sacrament fully that the source and summit the eucharist is only in church it's not to be father i just pray to god in my room that's a good start but that's where i stop no you need to nourish that your body needs food daily your soul needs food nourish it and so a spiritual seal let's talk about these uh sacraments of initiation baptism confirmation okay these these put a seal all right on you um the spiritual seal in a way it's also in holy orders too there's a seal and so it's a promise of divine protection whether or not you cooperate with that spiritual protection or not is up to you let's look at before actually before i have mark show the next slide people often say father that priest isn't holy i'm not going to mass right now it's the only church anywhere around but that priest is in holy and i'm not going well there's a term in the church now brother mark can put it up called ex operae operato the sacraments are ex operae operato what does that mean that is the sacraments are efficacious quote by the very fact that the sacramental action is performed in other words by the very fact that the sacrament is done it actually doesn't matter about the priest it's christ who is working the sacrament the priest is just a tool now yeah it could be a broken tool but a good craftsman that god is he can work even through a broken tool because it is christ who acts in the sacraments and communicates the grace remember jesus told saint faustina don't judge the priest of the confessional i'll deal with him you go to him the the efficacy of the sacraments does not depend on the personal holiness of the minister although it should and we want that and we have a right to that and we should have that but you don't say to yourself well i'm not going because i don't want to get the sacraments from him no you're getting them from god all right so this is well you know and it's true too the fruits of the sacraments do depend on your disposition well father if you're saying it doesn't matter who the priest is then it doesn't matter what i'm doing actually the church teaches it does so if you are to receive the fullness of the fruits of the sacraments you have to be disposed properly ready in a state of grace don't worry about the priest what god is saying here worry about ourselves and what we are to be ready to receive this grace all right so for believers in christ the sacraments even if they are not all given and you don't receive all of them are still necessary for salvation because we were born and baptized into the catholic faith this is the way god gave us to salvation well father what about the pygmy in the rain forest yes the pygmy in the rain forest can technically be saved but if you've heard of my other talks technically he will be judged differently than you and me especially me he will be judged on the natural law he didn't have scripture he didn't have the mass he won't be judged by that he'll be judged by what god put on his heart and the natural law did he follow it was he good to the graces he was given well here's the point you and me were given the grace of baptism and the sacraments in the eucharist and so they are necessary for salvation regarding us to whom much is expected excuse me too much is given much is expected don't let that scare you away don't say well then i don't want it father you say no that's exactly why i want it because that's extra grace to get me to heaven all i have to do is follow it's not that hard it is not that hard all we have to do is come to confession and humble ourselves a little bit now why are they necessary for salvation because they confer sacramental grace the forgiveness of sins adoption as children of god conforming to christ the lord and membership in his church you can't get any more important than that now the holy spirit he plays a part here he transforms heals us and transforms those who receive the sacraments which are needed for salvation so sacramental grace is actually the grace of the holy spirit given by christ and entrusted to his church by which divine life is instilled in us and it's proper in every sacrament if you haven't seen my holy spirit talk that's up there on youtube as well his role now the grace helps the faithful on your journey in life to holiness and assists also the church now here's something very interesting do you ever complain about the church have you ever complained that the bishops aren't holy or that the priests are are seem disengaged have you ever complained that that the church has lost its reverence any of that stuff okay how many of us have realized that part of that reason is because we're not receiving the sacraments because when we receive the sacraments not only does it help you grow to personal holiness it actually assists the church as well to grow in charity and in her witness to the world that is what's lacking in the church today so do you realize that some of us are going to be well not me because i sacraments are part of my daily life but maybe not receiving them most properly i could be accountable for or maybe you know celebrating mass if i have something on my soul i should have confessed so we're all going to be responsible let's live the sacraments so we can help our own church don't complain about mother church help mother church and you can help her by receiving the sacraments you never hear this we don't even hear this from bishops then we should you want to help the church yes father i'm praying for the church yes but receive the sacraments too all right let's keep going next slide let's today you know what there is so much to this i can't give you all seven sacraments today so you're just gonna have to come back i had a sacramental class for each of the sacraments let's show brother mark the first one we're gonna cover today is baptism so how to understand baptism the sacrament of baptism this is one of my favorites it's the starter point it's beautiful now let's look at baptism to baptize means to immerse but not just in water the one who is baptized is immersed into the death of christ and rises with him in new life second corinthians 5 17 remember the church dying you destroyed our death rising you restored our life baptism in the old covenant baptism was prefigured lots of prefiguring in the old covenant the old testament remember the water it was seen as a source of life and death in the desert they needed water to live the ark of noah which saved by means of water believe it or not you think well killed by means of water no actually noah's family was saved by it the passing through the red sea that was the water that allowed israel to be free from the slavery of egypt us too the slavery of sin and crossing the jordan israel was looking for the promised land which is the image of eternal life they went through the water the israelites went through the red sea to be freed from slavery the israelites went across the jordan looking for the promised land they crossed the water to find eternal life a lot of this in the bible and the old covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in jesus well father let's go to let's go the middle east and cross over the jordan you don't have to we got jesus christ all right at the beginning of his public life jesus was what baptized in the jordan it was the first thing he did so what we have here and then and then go to the end of his life on the cross what came forth blood and water float out of his side what's that water the sign of baptism this is what it was it flowed from his side what is the great command the great commandment fathers love god and then love your neighbors a second know the great command jesus said go forth and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit so everyone is to be baptized or who is to be baptized is also required to make a profession of faith or it doesn't matter do you realize we make our profession of faith every mass in the creed i believe in one god maker of heaven and earth creator of all things visible and invisible i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord these are our faith and so part of baptism is professing that faith well wait a minute father if it's a baby how does a baby do it we'll get there all right done personally in the case of an adult or by the parents and by the church in the case of infants faith is professed hmm god parents don't take this rule lightly don't take it lightly god parents and the whole church community share the responsibility for baptismal preparation as well as for the development and safeguarding of the faith and grace given at baptism baptism is necessary for salvation father yes it is necessary for salvation for all those to whom the gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for it so father you're telling me baptism is required to be saved but in the same breath you're telling me a pygmy in the rain forest who is not baptized can be saved you're contradicting yourself no if you heard what the church just said and i just read baptism is necessary for salvation for all of those to whom the gospel has been proclaimed most all of us have had the gospel proclaimed now the pygmy in the rain forest isn't so as i said earlier god will judge him on the natural law but we can't go before our maker having had the gospel proclaimed for us our parents grew us up in the faith but we've left it and we've outwardly reject it and then say to our lord well wait a minute the pygmy got in you're just like the guy at the vineyard the guy at the vineyard is going to say wait a minute how come the pygmy who just came the last hour he got in i've been i've been here all day because we didn't accept the avenue god set before us to get to heaven the avenue to get to heaven if we've been proclaimed the gospel is baptism and if we've had access to the sacraments we need to ask for it this is so important now does this mean father no you got me all discouraged because my my sons left the church and you're telling me now he can't be saved no i didn't say that either because what we have to do is pray for them that the grace will be given and if you've heard my other talks the diary of saint faustina 1698 and other places god's going to give them an opportunity so there's hope the catechism tells us in ways known to him alone he will provide the opportunity for repentance the best thing that we could do though is prepare for that that's why we have to have it now there's a couple other ways that if you're not physically baptized you can still be saved it's called baptism of blood and baptism of desire we'll get to that stay with us all right now christ died for everyone so those who died for the faith you know what let's talk about it now baptism of blood if you end up dying for jesus even though you have not been to the sacraments father my son's not been to the sacraments does he believe in god yeah okay well there's going to come a time where he's going to be given a choice to live or die for god now not necessarily physically please don't write me a letter or to the bishop saying father chris said my son's going to be executed for being a christian no i didn't say that as you could tell i'm i'm i'm starting to get a little bit tired of trying to answer questions of people saying that i said things when i don't so i apologize for repeating things over i just gotta stress it so that people don't keep telling my superiors that i said something that i didn't one letter came to my superior that said father chris said mary was not a virgin and that she had children i'm sorry i have never ever said that yet i get a letter that says father chris said mary was not a virgin and she had other children i'm offended what father chris said obviously she confused me with something else or she confused me with something i said so please before you write the letters please listen fully god bless you most all of them are great 95 are beautiful uh but the others are causing me some headaches and so god bless you you know what though i tell you what if you are honestly trying and you're honestly questioning send me the letter i will answer it and i'm glad you do i just know i struggle a little bit with being told i said something which i can promise you i never said mary had other children and wasn't a virgin so we'll get through it but please don't stop watching please keep trying if you do have a question it might be a little bit late before i get to it i am behind but i will i'll get back to you so god bless all of you for that all right now christ died for everyone so those who die for the faith are what they call baptism by blood and they can still be saved so father you mean my son who didn't have the sacraments can still go to heaven yes there will come a time you have to make a choice for god or not and we pray that he makes that choice for god it may be at the end of his life it may be a spiritual death not necessarily a physical death but it's a baptism by blood and we pray for this all right now they those who don't know christ and the church i go back to the examples of those who have not been ministered to those who don't know christ in the church still under the impulse of grace and they sincerely seek god and strive to do his will can be saved without baptism now i've got the traditional catholics which i consider myself one saying father how dare you say you can be saved without baptism i'm just telling you what the church says this is right from the catechism it's called baptism of desire this isn't me making it up again the catechism says those who don't know christ in the church yet still under the impulse of grace sincerely seek god and strive to do his will can also be saved without baptism it's called baptism by desire so there is hope but why risk it just have the baptism it's the way to do it so the intention whether in explicit or implicit to be baptized which we call the baptism of desire opens heaven god is not going to block somebody out who sincerely desires them and would have had baptism if they knew about it what the worry that we have is is those who it's offered to and just outright reject it we need to pray for them but we still have hope because god can work miracles at the end of lives or within the life so don't give up don't give hope give up hope so the church in her liturgy entrusts children who die without baptism to the mercy of god so baptism is the key here so i got one more short little video they're going to have brother mark's show this one again is under two minutes but this is one of the most awesome little summaries of what i've been trying to tell you about baptism let's take a look at this video if you end up with the seven sacraments into chronological order what would be first the answer is baptism this not only makes us adopted children of god and heirs to heaven but also initiates us into the catholic church and grants us access to the rest of the sacraments like all sacraments baptism has three elements that give it its unique character matter form and minister the matter the physical sign is water nothing can live without water similarly our souls need the water of baptism to reach eternal life this water is also a sign of the cleansing of our souls in god's mercy any water will do for the sacrament whether it is holy water or even just bottled water the form here is quite simple the words i baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit are spoken while the recipient is in contact with the water the minister is normally a deacon priest or bishop this does not have to be the case however in times of emergency anyone can baptize now imagine you witness a car accident someone's been seriously injured and an ambulance is on its way if this person is still conscious but gravely wounded a good question to ask is whether or not they've been baptized if the answer is no then with their permission you may baptize them so that's how baptism is performed but why do we need it is it necessary baptism is absolutely necessary to enter into eternal life as it allows us entrance into the catholic church by washing away original sin god however is not bound by the sacraments and can save through other means these extraordinary means that god saves are called baptism of blood and baptism of desire baptism of blood occurs when a person who has not been baptized by water is martyred for their faith in jesus christ baptism of desire is when a person through no fault of their own has never heard of jesus christ or his message god can then decide to dispense his grace to that person judging by their actions if they would have wished for baptism had they known of its importance so that's baptism entrance to the church so isn't that a great little video clip again i know i've said all this and and and i know i also get letters people are frustrated if i repeat things but again that's why i think rep repetition helps you to absorb it to sink in and to let you know wow that does make sense and so god bless you because i think that that helps us each time we go over this to sink in that's how we learn and and we're so happy that you're here to learn with us again i apologize i just just want to make sure that people understand my heart my heart is to help you not to battle and try to teach you falsehoods when i get those letters that say father you're teaching heresy no i'm not trying to teach you heresy i promise we're trying to give you the teachings of the church yes that's the beauty and that's the love of it and so i always nicely write back to those letters i'm sorry there must have been a misunderstanding and there always is but god bless you keep coming as i said i just want you to keep coming all right what are the effects of baptism baptism takes away original sin this is why we need to have it right away and all personal sins and all punishment due to sin it basically wipes your entire slide slate clean completely it's amazing it makes the baptized person a participant in the divine life of the trinity through grace the grace of justification which incorporates one into christ and into the church does that sound unimportant that's amazing it's beautiful it gives one a share in the common priesthood of christ when you are baptized do you know you share in the three offices of christ priest prophet and king you are a priest you are a prophet and you are a king now what do you mean father i'm a priest no not a ministerial priest confecting the sacraments but you share in the common priesthood of christ and that is making sacrifice like when you come to mass you can make the sacrifice with the priest you can pray the chaplet eternal father i offer you the body blood soul and divinity like the priest beautiful now when you do this we share in communion with the body of christ why is that important because that's what heaven is it's preparing us for heaven it's beautiful it bestows the theological virtues on us of faith hope and love those virtues don't come on our own those are virtues only that come to us through baptism and we have the virtues of faith hope and love perfected in in confirmation so the sacraments are important and we also receive the gifts of the holy spirit i talked about that on a separate video god bless you for watching those too a baptized person belongs forever to jesus christ if you heard my talk on the mass of the walk through i talked about the sign of the cross name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen and i said it's like branding yourself remember the cowboys to identify their cattle they would brand them and they would have a mark permanently stuck on them when you do the side of the cross you're branding yourself and it's the same with baptism when you get baptized there's a mark put on your soul in an ontological that's just a big name for a real change in your soul your soul is changed and now belongs to jesus wow again amazing so a baptized person belongs forever to jesus and he's marked with that indelible seal that character and this ontological change all right now this is a famous question let's look at our next slide brother marcus put up there infant baptism many people are not baptizing their children today this is infant baptism the catholic belief in infant baptism this is a shame i i can't stress it now this is a mistake not to baptize every one of our youngsters our children as soon as possible the baptismal right is not just a symbol of grace as i said it's a cause of grace not a symbol it actually causes the grace and so this is powerful baptism confers the first sanctifying grace and those supernatural values as i said before it takes away sin punishment you can't get better now i think what's important is the church baptizes infants because as i said a second ago they're born with original sin and they need to be freed from the evil one and given the freedom which belongs to the children of god baptism impresses that christian character on the soul that now allows all the other sacraments powerful it's the grace to allow us to share in the divine life of god as his adopted son or daughter you're now in god's family you know you may have heard me say the story when i was a little kid and i wanted a new family because i thought my mom and dad like my sister better and it was so funny because my mom was actually helping me write a letter to the newspaper to find a new family i was like seven and my dad comes by and he says huh you don't change the family god put you into and he just walked away and it wasn't too many years later that i saw the wisdom in that you don't change the family god puts you into and if we are put into a family that gives us the sacraments we don't want to change that god put us in there that's the beauty of our faith i wow can't stress how beautiful that is you know when you were born you didn't choose what country you were born into you became a citizen of that nation we don't you didn't choose it you didn't choose to be english or german or american you were born into it it's the same here you know a lot of times as catholics were criticized for infant baptism saying that you you need the born-again experience and then when you're old enough you can make the choice well let's look at this basically they say you have to first accept jesus as lord and savior and then you get baptized problem is for them baptism is not salvific it is not a it's sacrament a sign of their conversion it cannot be given in a salvific sense to many of those who believe in the non-catholic faith what it stands for now they say that it can't be given to somebody under the age of reason because they need to make that choice you catholics you don't get that well actually i think scripture gets that they are leaving their children with original sin we don't want to do that even original sin has some control or a lot of control of the evil one even on a youngster we want to free them we want to remove that as soon as possible do you know the age of reason for children is only seven so that means after seven years old there's some responsibility for even children they're old enough i know at eight years old i was old enough to know right from wrong i knew it was wrong to steal something or to cheat even at a young age so we do even as children have reason and the church says after seven you're now definitely of age of region so free that beautiful little child from the grip of original sin so at baptism you have the born-again experience the difference is it's now salvific it now brings salvation it's not just a symbol of a conversion it actually brings salvation and so let's look at our next slide saint peter first peter 3 21 says baptism now saves you it's salvific not as a removal of dirt from the body because you know you're being washed in water but as an appeal to god for a clearer conscience through the resurrection of jesus christ interesting huh he says it saves you uh remember that in philippians uh the jailer whom paul and silas had converted now this was in acts 16 i'm sorry it was acts 16 33 but it was a philippian jailer well anyway in acts 16 33 it says we are told that the same quote the same hour of the night he was baptized talking about this jailer with all of his family now did it say all of his family accept the infants did it say all of his family except the children no and paul replied in first corinthians 1 16 i did baptize also the household of stephanus stefanus again the whole household would have to include children here's a quote i like let's look at our next slide brother mark can put up thus peter declared i did baptize excuse me i'm sorry peter declared repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit for the promise is to you and your children father you crazy catholics baptized infants they need to be old enough to make that choice point to acts chapter 2 verse 38 and 39 there peter says for this promise is to you and your children so in the old testament if a man were to become a jew he had to believe in the god of israel and be circumcised now in the new testament if you became a christian you must believe in jesus and be baptized so old testament to be a jew you had to be circumcised in the new testament to be a christian he had to be baptized now here's the thing those born as jews who are becoming the first christians were circumcised in anticipation of the jewish faith when they were before they were christians so that they would be raised in the jewish faith so they were circumcised in anticipation of being raised in the jewish faith at eight days old hmm paul notes that baptism has replaced circumcision that's colossians 2 verse 11. so let's look at this here usually only infants were circumcised only infants were circumcised under the old law circumcision of adults was very rare there were very few converts to judaism they circumcised the infants so if paul said baptism is replace circumcision he would be talking about infants if paul meant to exclude infants he would not have chosen circumcision as a comparison it had been a really bad comparison so we can see this how about our other church fathers like augustine saint augustine a church father when there was again only the catholic church he said the custom of mother church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned nor is it to be believed that it's tradition is anything except apostolic so he's saying it comes from the apostles apostolic all right let's look at our another slide this is from the apostolic tradition back in the 200's the writing the apostolic tradition quote baptize first the children and if they can speak for themselves let them do so otherwise let their parents or other relatives speak for them that's exactly what the catholic church does today because it's been a tradition of the church for almost 2000 years that's amazing to me but many non-catholics try to ignore all of this historical writings how do you just ignore that how do you just ignore that the church fathers and the apostolic traditions say to baptize the little children you just throw it out no these are the early church writings clearly indicating the legitimacy of infant baptism all right there is no doubt that the early church practiced infant baptism none and that's why we should too and no christian objections were ever voiced until the reformation there was never an objection to infant baptism until after martin luther so we need to pray on that all right let's keep going what is the meaning of the a name when you have a name my name is chris his name is mark what was the meaning of a name okay a name was important because god knows each of us by name and that's what makes us unique as persons to one another and to god now in baptism a christian receives his or her name in the church like maybe you're named after a saint now christian names were given for two purposes your first name was to distinguish you from other people and your last name was to distinguish your family from other families now today in our secular society when people name their children few think of the church they just pick a name they like because everybody has a first name everybody has the last name but do you know that the first name was given to the person at baptism that is where they were christened that was the tradition that's where we come from fascinating so we don't even hold to these traditions anymore realizing where the naming of a child used to come from was their baptism that's how important it is now i mentioned before about baptism being needed for salvation and i said if somebody asked you if you've been saved you want to say yes because now you are adopted sons and daughters but do you know that that makes the power of divine mercy sunday like a second baptism salvation is powerful because divine mercy sunday says basically all right if you've messed up since your first baptism god's going to give you divine mercy sunday like a second baptism to renew and clean your soul it is not a second baptism we're only baptized once but divine mercy sunday is like a second baptism wow powerful stuff all right it wipes away all sin and punishment just like your first baptism so it's like a second baptism all right and we know that it's needed mark 16 16 says he who believes and is baptized will be saved all right we're coming close here john chapter 3 verse 5 says jesus answered very truly i tell you no one can enter the kingdom of god unless they are born of water and the spirit so please don't get upset with father chris you need to see this message from jesus himself that's the beauty of it that is why i am so dedicated to the catholic church so much so that i became a priest because everything i know i'm being taught is of god and that tells me everything i need to know so as i said don't despair though even if there's not baptism by water there's baptism by blood and by desire but again don't risk it get there get the grace go for the guarantee all right next let's take a next that's something important to fully receive we need to receive our sacraments and we need to have mark will show it on the screen form and matter this is just a technical term we learn in seminary if you guys want to come to seminary with me this is one we got to learn it's a little more technical but i think it's fascinating we receive fully the sacraments and the sacraments to be valid need to have both form and matter what does that mean father what's the matter okay let's talk about this what does the sacrament require all right all sacraments need to have a minister that's the guy or the person who intends to give you the sacrament like a priest or a deacon or a bishop now there has to be an intention though you know my friends in buffalo told me that there was a possible eucharistic miracle um like a month ago in the buffalo diocese where a post was bleeding appeared to be bleeding and so everybody was all excited that we might have a eucharistic miracle it looked like there was blood on this host but then it came out that that host was off to the side and the priest admitted god bless him for telling the truth he said i did not have intent to consecrate that eucharist so for instance if a priest is at the altar and there's a host that got left underneath the altar cloth and the priest does not know it's there and he says the mass with the host on the altar he only has the intent to consecrate that mass or that host that other host is not consecrated he didn't have the intent to consecrate it so we have to have intention that's first now sacraments are not magic spells they're not just these magic words or pieces of bread that have power in themselves what the sacraments are are moments in which god grants the privilege of allowing us to participate in his plan of grace and getting that grace man we are participating but you but the minister has to have the intent for instance i'm a priest i have the intent to consecrate the host or i have the intent to baptize your child but if i wake up and i'm sleepwalking i know this is a crazy example but if i wake up and i'm sleepwalking with a bottle of water and i'm drinking it and i walk up to you and i'm in the middle of the sleep but i'm sleepwalking and i pour that water over you and i say i baptize you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit i have done exactly what a baptism says and i'm a priest is that person baptized actually not because i didn't have the intent you have to have the intent and so this would not be valid but in addition to intention we need a minimum of something called form and matter that's what the slide was what is this the form and the matter are the how and the what for instance form is what is said so in baptism the form is i baptize you in the name of the father son and the holy spirit those are the words that's the form but you also need matter what is the matter in the sacrament of baptism water these two things have to be present we have to have the matter the water or it's not valid we have to have the form i have to say exactly i baptize you in the name of the father son holy spirit why father the church making all these rules this was the words of jesus christ the form is what he said the matter is what he used the water so not everything though that normally occurs in a sacrament is required for example at a baptism don't we also have nice symbolic things which are important to use like candles the white gown yeah but they're not sacramental matter that can't be done without it you could actually still have a baptism although you don't have a christening gown or i can still baptize you whether or not there's candles so those things are symbolic they're nice but you got to have the water and the words now let's go into this what and how of baptism so we said what is required is the matter water and the form consists of and let's look at our next picture there's the infant what's being said the priest has got the matter the water he's pouring it on the head of the baby what's the form he says i baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit it has to be exactly that and he pours it on the baby's head three times once for each of the persons of the trinity now the person can be immersed three times inside a dunking of water the catholic church accepts that but it's not required so we have to realize that and the other things like the vows of rejecting satan father my baptism wasn't valid i didn't say the vows of the bat of rejecting saint well neither did the child the parents say it on his behalf so that the baptism is still valid the presence of a god parent that's tradition we want to have them there but a baptism can be valid without that if you come to somebody at a scene of an accident if i'm a priest and i get out to baptize and they're dying i don't have to say you know we got to go find you a godparent i baptize um you know the same thing with the gown and the candle but anyway the baptism to be valid all you need are those two things now please note that the form must be followed exactly i cannot say in the name of the creator the redeemer and the sanctifier i can't do this you all hear about that deacon in detroit that has been baptizing other children and and and that isn't the problem it would be the other sacraments uh like marriage [Music] he found out he wasn't validly baptized because he found a video of his baptism and the priest used the wrong words so he went to the bishop and said oh my i'm not validly baptized now if you find it out for a fact yes you should address it but please don't worry you god knows and you have to trust that you know i don't know the words for my own baptism but god knows i trust that they were correct so don't worry too much about that all right now let's go to the next one who can baptize let's look at our next slide who can baptize all right our slide tells us bishops priests and deacons in the latin rite and in times of need anyone check this out this is a surprising even non-baptized persons can before can perform the baptism with required intention meaning they have to intend to do what the church asks of us so very interesting baptism is vital to salvation so the church allows a lot of freedom and who can do it the ordinary ministers as i said are priest bishop and deacon however anyone can baptize anybody leading however to some factors you got a condition or conditions you've got to factor in for instance it shouldn't be just because you want to it should be in cases like emergency or death otherwise it should be through the priest at the church now for instance protestants who come into the church they may not need to be re-baptized because they were already baptized in some sense if they were baptized with the same formula in the name of the father son and the holy spirit the church would consider that valid it need not and cannot be received twice the only reason you would baptize them coming into the church if they were never validly baptized to begin with now further it is preferred but not required the baptisms happen on sundays or on the easter vigil if you want to baptize a grandchild or a child try we should try to do it on a sunday or at the easter vigil also the person being baptized as that slide showed doesn't have to necessarily be be catholic they don't even have to be baptized christian this is how serious the sacrament is it's so serious that god wants them to have it and he opens it up to just about anybody to even do it for them now as long as they intend to do what the church believes to be true when they are pouring the water and saying the formula in the name of the father son and the holy spirit that means they have intent to baptize and the sacrament then would be valid all right so normally baptize baptisms done by a layperson would only be done in cases of emergency as i said that's important to keep in mind all right if there was no grave need then you shouldn't be rescheduling or planning to do it on your own a priesthood and if you do do that is the pre is the valid excuse me is the baptism valid if you baptized your child when you didn't have to is it valid yes but it's illicit which means it's technically cr it's technically acceptable but it was faulty so you don't want to do this so this is the reason don't go around just baptizing people at a party you know i heard father chris and he says it's acceptable i want everybody here at the party to come and get baptized no it's not what we want to do you know in fact why not well for one thing the church names the ordained as the normal ministers for a reason because this way they know what needs to be done and done correctly when it's baptized by a priest he knows exactly what to do and do it correctly unlike a grandma no matter how good her heart is again except in the cases of death or danger with the baby now as the minister the priest or the deacon they have the responsibility that the person they are baptizing and if they are parents or of the infant desires it so if i baptize an adult i have to make sure they desire it and if i'm baptizing a baby i need to make sure their parents desire it so this is another practical reason that the church requires a minister to do it another reason is because there's got to be a record if you just baptize your granddaughter in the bathtub there's no record of it and those records are very important so we know what other sacraments can come from it and if one who's baptizing another is not the pastor of the local catholic church they have the responsibility to contact that pastor and tell them so again baptism is not just a symbol it's truly something critically important all right so we got two last little things here now let's look at our last couple slides where can a baptism be done people don't think about this one in a church well that's the obvious answer father but again unless there are reasons or dangers or emergencies again it's done in the church because that's where the records are kept and a parent may baptize again at home somebody who's really sick or may not survive but then they have to inform the church so it's a gift from the parent to the child when they baptize but it's also a gift from the church to the parent to be able to do so so we need to follow those rules so situations like that are why the church does allow more than a priest to baptize especially as i said when needed so if someone was validly baptized prior to getting baptized in the church we should let the pastor know the deacon know because then they can still do the ceremony but they do it a little bit different it's called a conditional baptism all right so bottom line is this why are the sacraments so important well hopefully everything i've said here today to you makes sense you know the holy spirit is acting through the sacraments it's a way to give us the holy spirit the holy spirit gives us the church and the church in return gives us the sacraments do you know saint augustine said what the soul and you know what let's let's look at the next slide talk about the holy spirit he will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire so this is where you hear the term baptism by fire kind of like somebody who's thrown into a new job or baptism by the holy spirit in some kind of the charismatic movements let's talk about that the holy spirit as i said is key here augustine said this what the soul is to the man's body all right here's me a man's body and what the soul is to me is what gives me life do you know that even animals have souls do you know plants have souls father you're heretical father i'm writing a father kaz i'm telling him you're teaching heresy again no animals have souls plants have souls anything that's alive has a soul they're just not rational immortal souls only the human being has a rational immortal soul but anything alive has a soul it's just not rational or immortal a plant can't add 16 plus 36 to get the answer it doesn't have a rational soul and a plant's not going to live forever but a plant is alive it has a soul animating it so this is what we teach in the catholic faith this is thomas aquinas now augustine said the soul is to the man's body what the soul is to the man's body the holy spirit is to the body of christ which is the church so the holy spirit gives life to the church just like your soul gives life to your body think about it the church needs to have a soul to live and that soul is the holy spirit then he says the holy spirit does in the church what the soul does in the members of its body and what is that it gives it life and how does the holy spirit give life the sacraments this is the whole reason we're here so the sacraments are critical because they are from the holy spirit cardinal newman said holy church in her sacraments will remain even until the end of the world and to and what do those sacraments accomplish they give us guaranteed grace and eternal life you can't get anything more important and so how does this all come about through the imposition of hands in inviting the welcoming of the holy spirit this is how the church does it pope leo the 13th you all know my favorite pope ever he said this awesome reality although certainly a work of the whole blessed trinity we still come to him and make our abode with him john 14 23 is attributed to the holy spirit he's the giver of life that's what we say in the creed the holy spirit the giver of life wow so you and i have access to the triune god listen to this if i could say one thing that was going to blow my mind if i was listening to a teaching on the sacraments and i'll tell you how i say this is because it's a true story i was sitting in one of my sacraments class at holy apostles and the dominican priest father mulcahy said i think it was baptism no it might have been the eucharist well anyway whichever sacraments class it was or subject we were covering in that sacraments class father mulcahy said something that i'll never forget you and i have access to the trinity in ways far greater than the apostles and the disciples that followed him because we have the fullness of the sacraments that's beyond comprehension and we're not going to jump on that we are not going to grab that we are not going cherish that amazing we have greater access to the trinity in a greater way than the disciples of christ it's amazing the ones that walked with them the ones that followed him the ones that were there as he multiplied the bread and the and the wine or made excuse me multiplied the fish in the loaves saint augustine put it this way the giving or sending forth of the holy spirit after christ's glorification was to be such as had never been known before let me see that again for that giving and sending forth of the holy spirit after christ's glorification which means after christ died and resurrected was to be such as had never been seen before meaning we have greater access to the trinity and notice i didn't say just jesus the trinity because i think what father malcahy meant was the whole trinity if i read my notes correctly the whole trinity we have greater access to the sacraments today because the holy spirit after christ resurrected and ascended to the father and is seated at his right hand that ascension allowed then the holy spirit to come down upon us after the death of christ he's now glorified ascended to the father and that opened up the floodgates the wellspring of his mercy and down showers upon the world is the grace of the church the blood and the water brought forth that was the birth of the church and the grace given through the holy spirit incredible pope leo said that which now takes place in the church is the most perfect possible guys we have something that the saints longed for in a way that we have or i should say the people before christ the patriarchs the the people that we read about in the old testament david and moses we have something that they only longed for we have the sacraments cardinal newman said the spirit came to finish in us what christ had finished in himself but left unfinished as regards to us what say that again the spirit the holy spirit came to finish in us what christ had finished in himself but left unfinished in regards to us that's why jesus said i must ascend to the father or you're not going to get the paraclete and what did the paraclete bring the sacraments christ finished it but through the sacraments i know i'm going to get a letter saying father you're heretical because you're saying jesus didn't do it all you're saying jesus didn't finish it all notice my last line christ finished it but through the sacraments through the holy spirit this is church teaching this is not me this is church teaching and so we have once and for all this is what cardinal newman said once for all christ hung upon the cross and the blood in the water issued from his peer side but by the holy spirit's ministration the blood and the water now continue flowing forever the sacraments when christ ascended to the father do you think he was going to leave us alone do you think he was going to leave us without his grace how did christ give the grace when he has now ascended to the father he's not there like he was with the apostles but he left us something better he left us not better than him please please oh my not better than him better than it was before the coming of the holy spirit remember i'm not comparing the holy spirit to jesus here they work together they're the same god and now we have in this the answer it's in the sacraments god bless all of you you guys are amazing you guys who keep writing to me saying father we're excited to go back to 70 with you you just went to seminary you just got an entire semester of baptism i learned all of that an entire semester and i did my best to condense it for you i hope it made sense and god bless all of you for being willing students our marian helpers you guys are amazing and i'm so grateful and honored to be teaching you this but i can't think of anything more important i really can't and so you guys joining us is a gift of grace now on the last slide brother mark's going to show is help join fully in this mission become a marian helper become a mirian helper there is no cost mic prayers.org it takes 10 seconds sign up if you already aren't one and start sharing in the graces of the sacraments because as a mirroring helper you will share in the grace of all of our sacraments our masses our prayers our penances just like you were a mirroring of the immaculate conception this is incredible and i'm going to have brother mark's show at the end of this talk a quick clip because i also want to invite you to get a copy of my new book it's called understanding divine mercy a lot of what i talked about is in this and all of these explaining the faith talks especially about divine mercy i've always wanted a book that i felt would be a one stop shop a one place to go to get everything about divine mercy you need to know and i hopefully have done that i'm not sure but we'll show you a quick clip on this if you'd like to get it you can visit shopmercy.org or call 800-462-7426 and again please get a copy of my new book it tells you everything how to receive the graces of divine mercy what divine mercy is how you receive what to do on divine mercy sunday what two simple things to receive the extraordinary promise i explained the feast of divine mercy the image the novena the chaplet the hour all of that and why would a good and loving god allow suffering if he's merciful it's all in there so god bless all of you we are so happy and stay with us next week because we're going to continue our discussion on the sacraments why is this important they are what get us to heaven they're all christ-based they are nothing that takes us away from christ in fact they are jesus christ and through the power of the holy spirit they are perfected and they all came from god the father from which comes all everything we need to get back to enjoy forever heaven god bless you and may almighty god and our blessed mother mary keep you the father the son and the holy spirit amen hi i'm father chris aylor and i'm excited to tell you about the completion of my newest project it's been a long time in the making it's called understanding divine mercy my new book from marian press that finally in one place i feel gives you the all the answers of everything you need to know about god's divine mercy in fact it answers what is divine mercy who is saint faustina and what message did god give her for the world how about the feast of divine mercy and what do you have to do to receive the graces that jesus promises on this one day of the year we talk about the meaning of the image and how to pray the naveena and how to understand the chaplet and what to do in the hour of mercy and much much more answering questions like why would a merciful god allow such suffering so please we hope that you'll pick up a copy of this book for you and your loved ones because if you get the understanding of what god's mercy is you will understand why jesus said it's mankind's last hope of salvation so please visit us at shopmercy.org or give us a call at 800-462-7426 thank you and may almighty god bless you you

Channel: Divine Mercy

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Keywords: Divine Mercy, Mercy, Jesus, Christ, Marian, priest, catholic teaching, spiritual, spirituality, grace, pray, prays, praying, chris alar, alar, fr. Chris, fr. alar, Catholic, Church, God, quarantine, homebound, virus, pandemic, epidemic, closed church, sacrament, act of contrition, spiritual Communion, confession, Eucharist

Id: 6SNbbsJZ8Fc

Length: 89min 34sec (5374 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 06 2021