| Sacraments |
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Baptism: Is the first sacrament of welcome into the Christian community. In Holy Redeemer the ceremony begins at the door - where people are normally welcomed into a home and a family.. The priest spells out this significance when, at the door, he addresses the person by the newly chosen name and says ‘Mary (John or whatever) the Christian community welcomes you with great joy’. A whole richness of ceremony surrounds the sacrament. There is, for example, the reading of the Word of God, the anointings, the candle and white garment, the sign of one’s Christian dignity and the pouring of the water ‘in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’. Baptisms take place on the 2nd and 3rd Saturdays of each month – please contact the parish office (2868413) 9.30a.m. – 12.25p.m. Mon – Fri (Mon – Thurs July and August) to book – 3 week’s notice is required The Sacrament of Reconciliation: In the past it was called ‘Confession’ or the ‘Sacrament of Penance’. It is the sacrament by which, through the ministry of the Church, we are reconciled to God even when we have sinned gravely. Since the Vatican Council we now have three rites for this sacrament: Rite 1: this involves a one to one encounter with the priest with individual confession and absolution. Rite Two: A communal preparation and thanksgiving with individual absolution and very brief confession. Rite Three: communal preparation and thanksgiving with general absolution and no individual confession. Rite Two is the one that is mostly used nowadays especially at Christmas and Easter. Rite one is used less and less and Rite Three is allowed only in special circumstances. Eucharist: At the Last Supper Jesus took bread and wine and said over them ‘This is my body given for you, my blood poured out for you, do this in memory of me’. Every time we come together for Mass we are fulfilling that request of Jesus. We listen to the Word of God, we pray that the Holy Spirit will change these gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, we remember his death and resurrection and at the end we go to love and serve the Lord. In our parish we try to put big emphasis on hospitality. The idea of a family meal in which we share not just food and drink, but also friendship and companionship, is helpful in understanding the Eucharist. Basically it means at Mass going out of our way to pay attention to other people, reaching out to visitors and people who seem alone. Confirmation: In the early Church the sacraments of baptism and confirmation were seen as two moments in a single process of welcome into the Church. For that reason it is not easy to distinguish clearly between the significance of the two sacraments. Nevertheless confirmation does highlight a special aspect of membership of the Church, namely that of being commissioned to take on responsibility for the Church’s task and to become actively involved in pursuing it Marriage: Marriage is a lifelong partnership, commitment, based in love, for the well being of the spouses and for the purpose of having and rearing children. It is absolutely dependent on the free consent of the couple. The Second Vatican Council applies the expression ‘domestic Church’ to the Catholic family. It is in the family that the faith is first taught to children, and marriage represents the first school of Christian life. We have a booklet with suggested readings and prayers for Weddings which can be downloaded in PDF format by click here You can download a document listing pre-marriage courses and people who can assist with music for weddings. To download a PDF version of this document click here Orders: As a member of the ordained priesthood, the priest is the official leader in the parish and in virtue of that he is the one, who, among other things, presides at the Eucharist. That does not mean that he is the only leader in the parish, or has a monopoly of leadership roles, or that he is the one who has to initiate everything in the parish. Rather his task is to encourage the use of every gift and talent that is in the parish in promoting God’s kingdom. The Anointing of the Sick: The old name for this sacrament was ‘extreme unction’. It was generally administered only at the point of death. Since the reforms of Vatican11 it is now seen as a sacrament for the sick and is intended for healing. It offers God’s healing to those with serious physical illness, the elderly and frail, and those in need of inner healing. The occasional communal anointing of the sick can be a very moving experience and even when administered to one sick person, the other members of the family should be present if at all possible. |