Sacramental Preparation
A vital part of our Catholic Christian experience is the sharing in the Sacraments. According to the Catholic Church’s teachings, a Catholic parent, has an obligation to provide religious education for their children. The Church teaches that religious education begins at home and is the responsibility of the parent to provide moral education and spiritual formation. The Church expects us to teach our children about God, angels, saints and Catholic traditions. According to the Church, as a Catholic parent, we have an awesome responsible to educate and train our child in the Catholic faith, worship and morality which should begin in the earliest years.
The seven Sacraments were instituted directly by Christ and are administered by the Church. The exact form used to apply a given sacrament can vary somewhat but the basics always stay the same. These sacraments are:
- Baptism
- Eucharist (Communion)
- Reconciliation (Confession)
- Confirmation
- Marriage
- Holy Orders (Ordination to the Priesthood or Deaconate)
- Anointing of the Sick
In order to receive any of these sacraments it is ordinarily required that a person go through some period of preparation in order to insure the person understands the meaning of the sacrament, and to help them make a sound decision whether or not to receive the sacrament(s).