“Love (III)”
By George Herbert
Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”;
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”
“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.
1. Baptism
(a) What is Baptism? What are its effects?
(b) How is Baptism celebrated?
(c) Who can receive Baptism? Who can baptize?
(e) Why is it necessary?
2. Confirmation
(a) What is Confirmation? What are its effects?
(b) How is it Confirmation celebrated?
(c) Who can receive Confirmation? Who can confirm?
3. Eucharist
(a) What is the Eucharist?
a. A participation in and representation of the Lord’s sacrifice (¶1322, 1365-68)
b. A union and communion with Christ and with the Church as the Body of Christ (¶1325, 1329, 1391-92):
i. “To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself to us” (¶1382)
ii. “Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus” (¶1391)
c. A remembrance or memorial of the past (anamnesis) (¶1341, 1362-63)
d. A “making present” of the past (transubstantiation) (¶1364, 1375-77)
e. An anticipation of the future (prolepsis) (¶1344, 1402-05)
f. A church-constituting act in which those who partake become the body of Christ (¶1331, 1396)
g. A church-sending act in which those who partake are then sent into the world (¶1332, 1397)
(b) The Eucharist in Scripture
(c) The Eucharist and the Presence of Christ
(d) The Eucharist as Sign and Reality
a. Sign of Christ’s sacrifice; reality of Christ’s body and blood
b. Sign of Christ’s redemption; reality of the forgiveness of sin
c. Sign of the future messianic banquet; reality of God’s kingdom
d. Sign of the Church’s catholicity; reality of Christian unity as Christ’s Body
4. Comparing the Sacraments of Initiation
(a) Baptism and Confirmation are both “once for all” sacraments, and the Eucharist is the continuation or “making present” of Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice on the cross
(b) Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist all unite us with Christ
a. Baptism unites us with Christ’s death and resurrection (¶1214, 1227)
b. Confirmation unites us with Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit (¶1303)
c. Eucharist unites us with Christ’s body and blood (¶1365)
(c) Sacraments of Initiation and the Perpetuation of the Past
a. Baptism perpetuates the Paschal mystery of Christ in each individual (¶1239)
b. Confirmation “perpetuates the grace of Pentecost” (¶1288)
c. Eucharist perpetuates the sacrifice of the cross (¶1382)
d. The Church is the perpetuation of Christ’s body in the world
(d) Sacraments and Christian Unity
a. Baptism is a mark of Christian unity:
i. “Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church” (¶1271)
b. Confirmation, as a sacrament always distinct from Baptism, is unique to Roman Catholicism
i. the Eastern church places Baptism and Confirmation together
ii. some Protestant churches have Confirmation, but it is not a sacrament
c. Eucharist both unites and divides the churches (¶1398-1401):
i. all churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper
ii. the Eastern churches share in virtually the same sacrament, with a greater emphasis on the epiclesis than on the consecration
iii. the Protestant churches do not have the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and they place a much greater emphasis on the anamnesis (remembrance) than on the consecration or epiclesis
