The Greatest Sacraments

“The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”” Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1324

“Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 1448

The Sacrament of Matrimony of course is huge in my life. My wife changed my eternity when we met and she said ‘I do.’ She introduced me to Jesus in a way I’d never known Him.

But, for me the Sacrament of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation are strongest. The greatest Sacraments are those that are the most necessary. Of course, the Eucharist reigns supreme as the ‘source and summit’ of Christian life. From the Sacrament of Reconciliation a dead soul is called to new life.

For me though, these are the greatest because I know who I am. I am a weak, lost sinner who struggles in most aspects of my life to stay on the narrow road of faith toward Christ. I fall so often, it seems I spend more time down than up. This is precisely the reason these are so critical.

I humbly approach the Lord Jesus at Communion, knowing He can transform me from who I was to who I am meant to be by this simple species of bread and wine – the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. I come to Him an unworthy soul and walk away with Jesus within me, still unworthy but transformed, with Jesus within me.

It is the same for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I come a wretched sinner, deserving only judgment and condemnation. I come to Jesus seeking Divine Mercy, transformation and reconciliation. I leave a new man again, more like who the Father means me to be than ever before.

In both, I fall to my knees. Humbled and in a sense humiliated to be before God as I am. So unworthy to be in God’s presence. But, seeking still His very being and mercy to transform me from a sinner, to sanctity.

Only in these two efficacious Sacraments can that transformation occur.

Come to receive His Body and Blood and His Divine Mercy. Though we are unworthy of either, nothing should keep us away from the love and mercy, the presence and company of God. Nothing makes God happier than seeing you come to Him.