The Sacrament of Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the Church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God. It is the foundational sacrament and the prerequisite for all other sacraments. It unites us with Jesus Christ, incorporates us into his redemptive death on the Cross, thereby freeing us from the power of Original Sin and all personal sins, and causes us to rise with him to a life without end. Since Baptism is a covenant with god, the individual must say yes to it. In the baptism of children, the parents and godparents confess the faith on behalf of the children.
El Sacramento de Bautismo es el camino que lleva desde el reino de la muerte a la Vida; la puerta de entrada a la Iglesia y el comienzo de una comunión permanente con Dios. El Bautismo es el sacramento fundamental y la condición previa de todos los demás sacramentos. Nos une a Jesucristo, nos introduce en su muerte salvífica en la Cruz, y por ello nos libera del poder del pecado original y de todos los pecados personales y nos permite resucitar con él a una vida sin fin. Puesto que el Bautismo es una alianza con Dios, el hombre debe dar su «sí» a Dios. En el bautismo de niños los padres y los padrinos confiesan la fe en representación de su hijo.
Through Baptism each child is inserted into a gathering of friends who never abandon him in life or in death. ... This group of friends, this famioly of God, into which the child is now admitted, will always accompany him, even on days of suffering and in life's dark nights;
it will give him consolation, comfort, and light.
- Pope Benedict XVI
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. ... Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies." - Eph 5:25-26, 28
The Sacrament of Matrimony comes about through a promise made by a man and a woman before God and the Church, which is accepted and confirmed by god and consummated by the bodily union of the couple. Because God himself forms the bond of sacramental marriage, it is binding until the death of one of the partners.
El Sacramento del Matrimonio se lleva a cabo mediante una promesa hecha ante Dios y ante la Iglesia, que es aceptada y sellada por Dios y se consuma por la unión corporal de los esposos. Dado que es Dios mismo quien forma el vínculo del matrimonio sacramental, este vínculo une hasta la muerte de uno de los contrayentes.
God of Blessing, God of Love, in this lifelong covenant of marriage, may we always be aware of your presence. May our home be filled with the light and goodness that comes from you. May our marriage become the gift to the world you intend it to be. May our joy in each other be abundant as your joy is abundant in us. May our family reflect the image of your absolute and unfailing love. Through all trials and blessings of family life, may we turn and surrender to you in every moment, growing stronger in the faith, hope, and love that binds us ever closer to you. Grant that we may nurture in each other grace and wisdom, rooted in you while daily growing toward your heavenly kingdom. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
"To love a person means to see him as God intended him." - Francois Mauriac
The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament in which Jesus Christ gives his Body and Blood--Himself--for us, so that we too might give ourselves to Him in love and be united with him in Holy Communion. In this way we are joined with the one Body of Christ, the Church.
La Sagrada Eucaristía es el Sacramento en el que Jesús entrega por nosotros su Cuerpo y su Sangre: a sí mismo, para que también nosotros nos entreguemos a él con amor y nos unamos a él en la Sagrada Comunión. Así nos unimos al único Cuerpo de Cristo, la Iglesia.
It is part of your vocation to shout the Gospel from the rooftops not by your words, but by your life.
- Bl. Charles de Foucauld
Confirmation is the sacrament that completes Baptism; in it the gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us. Anyone who freely decides to live a life as God's child and asks for God's Spirit under the signs of the imposition of hands and anointing with Chrism receives the strength to witness to God's love and might in word and deed. He is now a full fledged, responsible member of the Catholic Church.
La Confirmación es el sacramento que completa el Bautismo y en el que recibimos el don del Espíritu Santo. Quien opta libremente por una vida como hijo de Dios y bajo el signo de la imposición de las manos y la unción con el Crisma pide el Espíritu de Dios, recibe la fuerza de ser testigo del amor y del poder de Cristo con sus palabras y obras. Es entonces un miembro pleno y responsable de la Iglesia católica.
I am created to do or to be something for which no one else is created: I have a place in God's counsels, in God's world, which no one else has. Whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.
- St. John Henry Newman