Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

At this point, if you have been following this series, it should be apparent that there is more than simply an accidental connection between the fact that the human person is a unity of a spiritual soul and a material body and the truth that Sacraments mediate a spiritual substance (grace) through a material substance (if you are not conversant with hylomorphism you might want to reread this post). Any moderately observant person, even one without a background in sacramental theology, can see the natural correspondence between human nature and the Sacraments.

Aristotle, without access to divine revelation, came to the understanding that man is both body and soul. In a completely separate time and culture, God revealed this same truth to His Old Testament, and later New Testament, Church. This is the way we are made. Man exists at the point of union between the spiritual and material realms and joins them both together. But this ought not be understood as the joining of two parts like the gluing of wood to stone but as a seamless unity of two distinct (but not separate) aspects of existence. We live and experience life in this realm. In it we suffered the fall from grace and the restoration of the breach. St. Thomas Aquinas said that informed matter was the mediator of our fall (the fruit from the tree of knowledge) and so informed matter is fittingly the mediator of our salvation (the Sacraments).

This is the point that those who learn sacramental theology without a proper philosophical foundation would experience their eyes glazing over, but now that we have the proper background it ought to be painless. We have all heard what will follow, many times I suppose. We know that for a Sacrament to be valid, it must have proper form and matter. Of course the form is the words proper to the Sacrament, spoken during its administration according to the rite. The Sacrament’s matter also varies for each, but it is the material substance appropriate to the Sacrament. In Baptism, the proper matter is water. In Confirmation it is the chrism (oil) and the laying on of hands of the bishop (or authorized priest). In the Eucharist, the matter is bread made from wheat and wine made from grapes.

Therefore, I have to emphasize, that a Sacrament is more than simply the material element (matter) mediating grace. It is a greater reality. A Sacrament is the unity of the form (e.g. ‘I baptize you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’ during the triple immersion or pouring of water over the person being baptized ) with the matter (water). In the same way that the form gives the matter its existence for hylomorphic entities, the words spoken in a properly structured sacramental rite together with the matter bring a new entity into existence. The Sacrament’s substantial form gives new shape and existence to the matter such that it now is a mediator of God’s grace. And God’s grace is God Himself! In a very real way, this sacramental entity mediates the Person of Christ.

For six of the Sacraments, the hylomorphic entity of the sacramental matter remains, and is taken up whole into the new entity we call the Sacrament. However, in the Sacrament of Sacraments, the Holy Eucharist, the substantial form of the sacramental matter is replaced. That is why it is called Transubstantiation. The substantial forms of the bread and wine are replaced by the substantial Form of Jesus (i.e. His human soul). Because His soul now informs the matter (which still maintain the accidents/properties of the previous forms of bread and wine) the matter now belongs to Christ and so He is present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Just as His created body is to be worshiped as God, these created but transubstantiated elements must be worshiped as well.

In the other Sacraments, the sacramental entity only exists as the grace is mediated. After the baptismal rite, while the water is still blessed, it is no longer a mediator of grace. In other words, the water cannot just be poured over another person and have them baptized. A new sacramental entity, a new encounter with the Person of Christ, must be brought about. After the rite, the water itself is just holy water having the substantial form of water. However, this is not the case for the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, because the bread and wine have a new form, until they no longer have their symbolic value as bread and wine, the hylomorphic entities remain Jesus Christ Himself.

What all of this means is that in the Sacraments, and in Eucharist par excellence, we experience a personal encounter with Christ. The Sacraments mediate to us God Himself. As St. Peter says, we become partakers in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). We experience this encounter in a fully human manner. Our persons encounter the person of Jesus and His grace, as body-soul unities coming into physical contact with Jesus in sacramental form and matter. This is, by the way, why physical proximity is required for the Sacraments. In other words, we cannot go to confession over the phone or attend Mass by television. Neither form nor matter can be transmitted via electro-mechanical means.

In the final segment of this series, we will talk about the sacramental experience and the experience of daily life.