Through symbolic immersion in the waters of baptism, you are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ." In a mysterious way, you "die with him, are buried with him, and rise with him" (Sacred Liturgy, 6) [10861.

   As a baptized Christian, you are an adopted brother or sister of Christ, "hid with Christ in God," but a visible member of his Body [ 1 266].

   Having died to sin (both original sin and personal sins are cleansed away in the waters of baptism) [1263, 1264], you have entered the community of the Church "as through a door." Your indelible baptism into Christ was the beginning of a unique lifelong vocation [I 214-1216, 1263, 12711.

   Some serve the spiritual and community life of their parishes by teaching religion and taking part in adult-education programs, Scripture study, prayer groups, and family enrichment groups, such as Marriage Encounter. Many find their baptismal faith revitalized by praising God together as charmismatic Catholics. These are only some of the ways in which baptized members of Christ's Body live out the mystery of their baptismal vocation [898-9131.

   A major way of living the life of baptism is called the religious life. Heeding a special grace from God, some people enter religious orders and congregations and become religious Brothers and Sisters [914-933, 944,945]. (Some religious also become priests,blending their religious life with their special priestly ministry.)

   If you were being confirmed today, the celebrant would moisten his thumb with chrism, the specially blessed mixture of olive oil and balsam, and trace the sign of the cross on your forehead. This act is the laying on of hands, which is an actual part of the sacrament going back to the time of the apostles.

   While anointing you, the celebrant would address you, using your new confirmation name, and say: "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." These words have rich connections with early Christianity. As Saint Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, "In him you also ... were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance..." (Ephesians 1: 1 3-14) [1299, 1300].

   Penance is the sacrament by which we receive God's healing forgiveness for sins committed after baptism. The rite is called reconciliation because it reconciles us not only with God but with the Church community. Both these aspects of reconciliation are important [1468-1470].

   As members of Christ's Body, everything we do affects the whole Body. Sin wounds and weakens the Body of Christ; the healing we receive in penance restores health and strength to the Church, as well as to ourselves.

   When a person turns aside or away from God's love, the harm is to the sinner. Venial sin strains one's relationship with God. Mortal sin ruptures the relationship [ 1 854-1863].

   In the second parable, a woman finds a valuable coin she had lost and throws a big party. Jesus comments: "In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (15:10) [545-546].

   The third parable is the story of the wayward son. When the son returns home, his father receives him with a tender embrace [2839].

   When you confess your sins sincerely, with true sorrow and resolution not to sin again, God rejoices. The Pharisees depicted in Luke's Gospel were stem, rigid men-stricter judges than God. In contrast, the Father revealed by Jesus is almost too good to be true. And so is Jesus himself, whom you meet in this sacrament. Like Father, like Son. In penance, Jesus embraces and heals you [1441-1442].

   In serious illness you experience mortality. You realize that at some time you are going to die. If you are not seriously ill, but infirm or aged, you know this same experience.

   Because these circumstances lead you to face God in the light of your own death, there is something especially sacramental about the condition you are in. And so there is a formal sacrament for this sacramental situation: anointing of the sick [1522].

   Anointing does not hasten the act of death. In this sacrament, however, God does invite you to commune with him in the light of your final meeting with him. Through this sacrament, the entire Church asks God to lighten your sufferings, forgive your sins, and bring you to eternal salvation [1520].

   You need not be on the verge of dying to receive this sacrament. This is clear from the fact that the anointing and the prayers that accompany it have as a purpose the restoration of health. Therefore, if you are not in immediate danger of death, but are infirm or aged, you can and should ask for the sacrament. If you ever are in danger of death, either from sickness or old age, you should not delay receiving the sacrament [ 1 514-1515].

Anointing of the sick helps you to share more fully in the cross of Christ. By so sharing, you contribute to the spiritual good of the whole Church. By the fact that you share more fully in the cross of Christ through anointing, you are being prepared for a fuller share in Christ's Resurrection [1521].

[1601-1666)

   In all civilizations people have sensed a mysterious sacredness about the union of man and woman. There has always been a vague realization that the deep longing for oneness with "the other" is life-giving-and that it is a longing for oneness with the source of all life. This is why religious rituals and codes of behavior have always been connected with marriage.

  Jesus made marriage the sacrament of matrimony, giving matrimony a new dimension to the Christian vocation that begins in baptism [ 1 6011.

   In matrimony a husband and wife are called to love each other in a very practical way: by serving each other's most personal needs; by working seriously at communicating their personal thoughts and feelings to each other so their oneness is always alive and growing. This love is explicitly, beautifully sexual. As Vatican ii points out, "Married love is uniquely expressed and perfected by the exercise of the acts proper to marriage" (Church in the Modem World, 49) [1643-1654].

   In matrimony a couple is also called to live their sacrament for others. By their obvious closeness, a couple affects the lives of others with "something special"-the love of Christ in our midst. They reveal Christ's love and make it contagious to their children and to all who come into contact with them. A major purpose and natural outcome of matrimony is the begetting of new life-children. But a couple's love also gives life-the life of Christ's Spirit-to other people [ 1 652-1658, 2366, 23671.

   Matrimony is much more than a private arrangement between two people. It is a sacramental vocation in and for the Church. It is a medium through which Christ reveals and deepens the mystery of his oneness with us, his Body. Thus, husbands and wives live a truly sacramental life when they follow the advice given in Ephesians 5:21: "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ" [1617].

   In the Catholic Church, a couple's sacramental union is exclusive (one man with one woman) and indissoluble (till death do us part). These are concrete ways in which the mysterious oneness between husband and wife, Christ and Church, becomes reality [1643-1645, 2360-2379].

   The best thing parents can do for their children is to love each other. Similarly, one of the best things a couple can do for the Church and for the world is to strive for greater closeness [2201-223 1 ).

   The Church is the Body of Christ. As such, the whole Church shares in the nature and tasks of Christ, our head. This includes sharing in his priesthood [787-796, 1268, 15461.

   But beyond this "common priesthood of the faithful," there is the special or "ministerial priesthood" of Christ that certain members of the Church receive through the sacrament of holy orders [901, 1547).

   Each type of priesthood-common or ministerial-is a sharing in the priesthood of Christ. And both types are related to each other. But there is a basic difference between them. In the eucharistic sacrifice, for example, the ordained priest acts "in the person of Christ" and offers the sacrifice to God in the name of all, and the people join with the priest in that offering. The two roles-of priest and people-go together [901-9031,

   Priests receive their priesthood from bishops, who possess the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders. When a bishop ordains priests, he gives them a sharing of his priesthood and mission [ 1562-15641.

   When priests are ordained, they "are signed with a special character," an interior capability that empowers them to "act in the person of Christ the head" (Life of priests, 2). This special inner "character" unites priests in a sacramental bond with one another-a fact that, in a sense, sets them apart from other people. This "being set apart" is meant to help priests do God's work with total dedication [ 1 5 81-15 84].

   As Vatican ii points out, priests "exercise  other services for the benefit of men [and women]" just as Jesus did (Life of priests, 2). One thing this means is that priests need their people just as their people need them. Lay people who work closely with priests help them to be leaders in the community of God's people [9101.

   In its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Vatican ii begins chapter 2, "The Most Sacred Mystery of the Eucharist," with these beautiful words:

   "At the Last Supper, on the night when he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in your same inner self, transformed and purified by the intensity of God's love for you.

Besides declaring the fact of purgatory, the Second Council of Lyons also affirmed that "the faithful on earth can be of great help" to persons undergoing purgatory by offering for them "the sacrifice of the Mass, prayers, almsgiving, and other religious deeds" [958, 1032, 1055].

Implied in this doctrine is the bond of oneness--called the communion of saints-that exists between the people of God on earth and those who have gone before us. Vatican ii focuses on this bond of union by saying that it "accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death" (The Church, 51) [828, 959].

The communion of saints is a two-way street. In the section quoted above, Vatican ii points out that just as you on earth can help those who undergo purgatory, those in heaven can help you on your pilgrimage by interceding with God [946-9621.