THE SACRAMENTS ARE NOT ONLY THE MOMENT IN WHICH THE CHURCH GENERATES HER CHILDREN IN THE SUPERNATURAL

LIFE, BUT ALSO THE MOMENT IN WHICH THE CHURCH ITSELF IS GENERATED AS A SALVIFIC COMMUNITY THE CHURCH AND THE SACRAMENTS This topic touches deeply the kernels of the Catholic faith sacramentality, mediation and communion. The Church and the sacraments are two sacred realities whose divine origin and mode of operation must be first understood before any valid study can be undertaken of either or both of them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church designates the Church as not just a liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers (CCC 752) in Jesus Christ. Sacramentality deals with the notion of reality as instrument of divine self-revelation and communication. Mediation bridges the chasm between finite and infinite. Communion is the interrelatedness of the earthly Church with the heavenly Church; the former on pilgrimage, the latter already at home. The sacraments themselves mediate Gods grace in the community of believers, the people of the New Alliance, the New Race. Following this understanding, St Augustine defines sacrament as a visible sign of invisible grace. In the same vein, Pope Paul VI in his opening address before the Second Session of Vatican II in 1963, as cited in Catholicism by Richard P. McBrien, gave his definition of sacrament as a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God (McBrien, R. Catholicism. P. 9). McBrien goes further to define sacrament himself, in the wide sense, as any finite reality through which the divine is perceived to be disclosed and communicated, and through which our human response to the divine assumes some measure of shape, form and structure (McBrien. Catholicism. P. 788). In the strict sense of the term, he defines it more specifically as those finite realities through which God is communicated to the Church and through which the Church responds to Gods self-communication. Here, we refer to the seven ritual sacraments of the Church Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. Nevertheless, we must also bear in mind that Christ as the Mediator par excellence is the Sacrament par excellence. In the middle ages, Aquinas saw Christ as the Fundamental Sacrament, but in more recent times, Jesus has been referred to as the Primordial Sacrament, the Ultimate Sacrament, the Sacrament of the First Order, while the Church is now seen as the Fundamental Sacrament. The sacramentality of the Church is always seen in relation to Jesus Christ whose instrument of salvation the Church is. Christ founded and is always present in his Church, especially in liturgical celebrations, particularly in the sacraments (cf. SC 7). This informed the Churchs Catechism that the sacraments are efficacious signs of grace instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church by which divine life is dispensed to us (CCC 1131). As such, sacramental celebrations make present or renew the mystery of Christ, derive their efficacy from Christ and confer the grace they signify. By virtue of their divine origin, the efficacy of the sacraments is ex opera operato , i.e., from the work worked, based on the merits of neither the celebrant nor the recipient, but of Christ. They are gifts by Christ to the Church as actions of the Spirit. Hence, the sacraments are pneumatological, Christological and also ecclesiological in character. THE CHURCH GENERATING The Church exists to perpetuate the Kingdom of God and bring in more members to her fold. Sent by the Father, the Son now sent his apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching

the good news of the Kingdom (cf. Mt. 28:19-20; LG 17). Thus, the Churchs mission of evangelization and salvation is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members. The Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity (CCC 738). Through her proclamation, the Church generates offspring for the Kingdom, urging them to conversion and sanctification. THE CHURCH AS THE WAY TO THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6). He is the Mediator and way of salvation. However, though ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father, he is present to us in his Body which is the Church (cf. Mt. 18:20; 28:20; SC 7). The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, begins with the proclamation that Christ, the light of humanity, shines out visibly from the Church (cf. LG 1). Now, the door through which we enter the Church is faith and Baptism, whose necessity for gaining eternal life is unequivocally asserted by Jesus in Mk 16:16 and Jn 3:5. Thus, the Church as the custodian of the sacraments, including Baptism, is necessary for salvation. In fact, the Church is the way to the supernatural life. This necessity of faith and Baptism and of the Church is aptly defended by Vatican II (cf. LG 14). THE CHURCH GENERATING HER CHILDREN IN THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE The Church issuing from Christ becomes an instrument of Christ for the salvation of the world, makes Christ known in the world and carries on his mission of sanctification and calling people to God. So, it is in the context f the Church, united with Christ and marked by the Holy Spirit that we are truly called and indeed are children of God and heirs of the supernatural life (cf. LG 48). This means that the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christs faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit (CCC 737). The Church founded in view of the supernatural life correspondingly generates and nourishes her children in the supernatural life. THE SACRAMENTS AS THE MOMENT IN WHICH THE CHURCH GENERATES HER CHILDREN IN THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE The Catechism of the Catholic Church holds that through the Churchs sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. These mighty works of God offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit (CCC 739-740). Elsewhere it avers that through them, Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, until he comes. This is the communication or dispensation of the fruits of Christs Paschal Mystery in the celebration of the Churchs sacramental liturgy (CCC 1076). In other words, the sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community of Christs followers striving to inherit eternal life is brought into operation through the sacraments (cf. LG 11). Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the pledge of the supernatural life; strengthened in the Christian mission by the Spirit at Confirmation; offered to God with Christ in the Spirit in the Eucharistic sacrifice; pardoned by God, reconciled to the Church and redirected on the path to the supernatural life through Penance; healed and equipped for the final journey by the Anointing of the Sick, empowered to represent

men in their relations with God, configured to Christ the Eternal High Priest (cf. Heb. 6:20) and nourished by the word and grace of God through Holy Orders; and generated, received, implanted and nurtured in the earthly family of Gods Kingdom, perpetuated all through ages in Matrimony; the Christian is, at every moment, provided with abundant aid and grace to reap the fruits of the supernatural life through the medium of the sacraments. From cradle, he is ushered into the Christian way of life via the sacraments of Christian initiation, freed from the clutches of sin, fed with spiritual food and confirmed in faith. As he confronts the vicissitudes of life, rising and falling, both spiritually and physically, weakened by the wiles of the devil, the flesh and the world, he is recuperated with the sacraments of healing, of both soul and body, and renewed and more refreshed to forge ahead in the supernatural life. Finally, when he is mature enough, the sacraments at the service of others enable him to enter into a fuller personal communion with Christ the Bridegroom and Head of the church, his Bride and Body, by which he becomes more directly involved in the divine injunction to increase and multiply, to train and to bring little children to Christ, to expand Gods family on earth, and to lead those entrusted to him to the knowledge of God, in word and deed. THE CHURCH GENERATED At this juncture, we shall look into the nature and composition of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, expounding on the Churchs origin, foundation and mission, described her origin in the Holy Trinitys plan and her progressive realization in history (CCC 758) as a plan born in the Fathers heart, foreshadowed from the worlds beginning, prepared for in the Old Covenant, instituted by Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit and awaiting perfection in the glory of heaven. Even when he created man, God willed to gather all men into one sheepfold to know, love and serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next. In his justice he condemned man when man sinned. In his mercy, however, he stretched out his hand to redeem mankind and recall man to a state of glory, gathering all men into a people, the people of his own. Remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will be the father of a great people. Immediate preparation begins with Israels election as the People of God (cf. CCC 762). Nonetheless, the full realization or birth of this divine seed came with Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross for from his side came forth the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church (SC 5); and the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost when the Church appeared before the world (SC 6). Therefore, the Church is rightly recognized as the Kingdom of Christ and its origin and growth symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus (LG 3). Thus, the Church was instituted to make known Christs message of salvation, to convert and nourish men on earth with the food of the soul, and to ever make available to them the merits of Christs saving death. THE CHURCH AS A SALVIFIC COMMUNITY From the foregoing, this much is at least clear: that the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of a Sacrament a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men (LG 1); and that the Universal Church is actually a people brought into the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (LG 4) seeking salvation. By evangelization, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, sacrifice, sacraments and practice of virtues, the People of God strive on to actualize the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. Though made up of saints and sinners, she is called to be holy (cf. Lev. 19:2; Mt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:16) and emulate the life of Christ (cf. Acts 2:42, 46).

THE CHURCH GENERATED AS A SALVIFIC COMMUNITY This Church of God was already present in figure at the beginning of the world, prepared for in the history of Israel and the Old Alliance. God chose, sanctified and established a covenant with the Israelite race as a preparation and figure of the new and perfect covenant to be ratified in Christ, established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. LG 2, 9). Instituting the New Covenant in his blood, Christ called a New and Universal Race, made up of Jews and Gentiles to be one in Spirit, the New People of God, reborn from water and Spirit. He sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples and through him set up his Body which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation (LG 48). Now, the Church generate as a messianic People is the source of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race. This communion of believers was established by Christ as a communion of life, love and truth, and as the instrument for the salvation of all, as the visible Sacrament of this saving unity (cf. LG 9). So, the Church was generated as a salvific community, as the Ark to bear Gods children through the murky and deadly waters of sin and evil. THE SACRAMENTS AS THE MOMENT IN WHICH THE CHURCH ITSELF IS GENERATED AS A SALVIFIC COMMUNITY Our understanding of the Church in this world as the Universal saving sacrament of Jesus Christ, the sign and instrument of the communion of God and men (CCC 780), underscores the truth that the Church mediates Gods grace and rings people to salvation in Christ Jesus through her missionary roles, in the context of the liturgy actualized in the administration of the individual sacraments. By liturgy, we mean the Churchs exercise of the priestly office of Christ by which God is glorified and man sanctified (cf. SC 7). Buttressing further the sacramentality of the Church as a salvific community, the Churchs Catechism affirms that Christs work in the liturgy is sacramental: because his mystery of salvation is made present there by the power of his Holy Spirit; because his Body, which is the Church, is like a sacrament (sign and instrument) in which the Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery of salvation; and because through her liturgical actions, the pilgrim Church already participates, as by a foretaste, in the heavenly liturgy (CCC 1111). This coheres with the position of the Council Fathers that Christ, sent by the Father, also sent the apostles, willing that the work of salvation they preached be set in train through the sacraments (cf. SC 6). Sequel to this, we reiterate the Churchs position that the individual sacraments are concrete actualization of the Church as Fundamental Sacrament. Verily, without the sacraments, the Church would be barren and would not be through to her nature. The Church exists as a mustard seed whose fruits, the works of her missionary apostolate should be proclaimed from the hill tops to the far off peoples, embracing all men under her salvific shelter. Through Baptism, she increases in number, giving birth to an elect people chosen by God to reveal his glory, mercy and salvation to them (cf. Acts 2:41, 47; Rom. 8:30; 1Pet. 2:9-10). In the Eucharist, her nativity is recalled as her Master laid the egg of this sacrament of love which hatched into the Church (cf. Mt. 26:2629; Lk. 22:19-20). At Confirmation, we relive that day of Pentecost, when by the Power of the Holy Spirit, timidity gave birth to courage which in turn gave birth to a faithful Christian community ready to die for the message of salvation to live (cf. Acts 2; 5:29; 6; 7). The sacrament of Reconciliation brings back to life the Churchs lost children (cf. Jn 20:23). The victory of Gods People over sickness and pain is demonstrated in the Anointing of the Sick (cf. Jm. 5:14-15). Through Holy Orders, men are ordained to minister the word and sacraments for the expansion and renewal of the Church (cf. Rom. 10:14-15). In

Matrimony, the Spirit enables the domestic Church to be established and to reproduce offspring for the Kingdom, who will be catechized to submit to the word of God, Baptism and other sacraments of Mother Church. The generation and harmony of the family as a corporeal community is a microcosm of the generation and harmony of the Church as a salvific community. In addition, the sacrament of Matrimony between the man and the woman, which extends to the procreation and care of their young, as well as the indissolubility, fidelity and openness to fecundity demanded of their bond of love is a kind of imagery of the relationship between Christ and the Church which also extends to the spiritual procreation and care of their young, as well as the indissolubility, fidelity and openness to fecundity demanded of their bond of love (cf. Eph. 5:25, 32). Hence, there is no gainsaying that in the Sacraments, the Church itself is also generated as a salvific community while at the same time generating her children in the supernatural life. DOXOLOGY The importance of the Sacraments in the generation and mission of the Church cannot be overemphasized. God, infinite and transcendent, unveils himself to us and advances to us. Due to our finitude, we cannot meet God where and how he is; we meet him where and how he comes to meet us; we encounter him not as he is in himself, but in finite ways, perceptible to humans. This self-communication also calls for human response. This process of unveiling and encountering is sacramental in character because of the mediation, the symbolic representation. God, pure Spirit, sublime and infinite, cannot be seen, touched or heard except in a sacramental encounter whereby he reveals and communicates himself through means appropriate to our nature, the sacraments, which reveal Gods presence to us. Consequently, at the fullness of time, God sent his only begotten Son (cf. Mk 1:11; 9:7), the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), the head of his body, the Church; the source of the bodys life (Col. 1:18), to be the Mediator and Redeemer of fallen man (cf. Heb. 9.15). Therefore, Christ is the Primordial, or Primal, Sacrament. In fact, the point of our sacramental encounter with God is the humanity of Christ (McBrien, Catholicism, p. 787). Christ then founded the Church and bequeathed to her all the treasures of the supernatural life. So, the Church is the Fundamental Sacrament of our encounter with Christ and of Christ with us. The sacraments are the signs and instruments by which that ecclesial encounter with Christ is expressed, celebrated and made effective for the glory of God and the salvation of all (Catholicism. P.10). thus, the Church is both the Sacrament of Christ, mediating salvation through the sacraments, ministries and other instrumental elements as well as the Communion of saints and the People of God. Therefore, the sacraments are of the Church, i.e., by her and for her. By her as the sacraments of Christs action at work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit; for her as the sacraments make the Church (cf. CCC 1118). That is to say that the Church makes the sacraments and the sacraments make the Church. REFERENCES Flannery, Austin. o.p., (ed). Vatican Council II: Conciliar and Postconciliar Documents. Mumbai: ST PAULS. 2001. McBrien, Richard. Catholicism. Ibadan: Society of St Paul. 2008. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ibadan: ST PAULS. 2002. The Good News Bible. Todays English Version. New York: American Bible Society. 1993.