“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.” CCC 1131
“So, if the Sacraments are efficacious signs of grace…bearing fruit in those who receive them”, why do I not feel any change? Why do I not feel grace overflowing within me? I believe the bread and wine of the Eucharist are the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – Jesus Himself. I know the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the key and portal to the floodgates of God’s Divine Mercy. So, where is this efficacious effect?
“Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”“ Luke 8:43-48
Dozens pressed against Jesus as He walked the road. They came to see this miracle worker. Jesus, though protected by His disciples, was jostled and bumped by the crowd. How many touched Him in those bumps or maybe even purposefully reached out a hand? Why were they not given the grace to bear the fruit of healing or otherwise? What is the difference between those people and this woman?
Do you come to the Eucharist knowing this is Jesus but only drawing along the line because you’re supposed to? Or, do you come to the confessional because you’ve done some wrong and just want to feel right about moving forward? These are the same as the crowds jostling Jesus that day. They came to see the man some call a prophet or maybe they e even heard rumors that He is the long awaited Messiah. They want to see what He might do. But, unlike the woman in Mark’s,Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel, they are missing the key link to His miraculous touch.
Faith.
When the priest places the Eucharist upon your tongue do you say AMEN with absolute belief and total faith? Do you receive absolution in the confessional from Jesus Himself, hidden only in the face and voice of the priest? Do you know beyond all doubt that your sins, every one of them, is forgiven in the Divine Mercy and love of the Father? The efficacious signs of grace through your faith power through, overpowering and empowering you. You are filled with His healing power, just the same as the woman was.
Don’t ‘feel’ it yet? Practice the Sacraments often. Don’t receive the Eucharist just on Sunday. Go daily. And, believe this is Jesus. Don’t ho to Confession just at Easter and Christmas, go monthly or weekly. Listen for the voice of Jesus in the words of love as He absolves you and dissolved your sins with His blood. Keep practicing this reach of faith until nothing else matters. Then, feel the power flow from Jesus.