OVER SACRAMENTALISED & UNDER EVANGELISED

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OVER SACRaMENTALISED & UNDER EVANGELISED

The Catholic Church teaches us to be followers of Christ and hence more is asked of us than only receiving the Blessed Sacrament week in and week out.  We are also called to fully discern the actual reality of what we are about to receive when we come into Holy Communion with the Body of Christ. Being in a state of mortal sin whilst receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ made fully present in the Eucharist means that we have not truly discerned who Christ is, why He came, and why He is the reason for our hope. In this situation we have become 'over sacramentalised and under evangelised'. Receiving Christ in a state of (real) grace means that we will start to draw closer to Christ, and our relationship (& discipleship) with Him will become stronger...
  

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11...

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Council of Trent - Canon XI

lf any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burthened with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves


Revelation 7:14

These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.

"This is my body"

Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI encouraged us to form a living relationship with Christ; and one of this countries most traditional and orthodox Roman Catholic Bishops,  Bishop Philip Egan (alongside Bishop Mark Davies), also advocate that we should pursue a relationship with Jesus which would enable us to take our Catholic faith more seriously. Bishop Egan also endorses catechumens and Catholics within the Church taking steps to become Intentional Disciples. 

An understanding of this work can be found within the book Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell. See the short video below with Bishop Philip Egan.

          Called And Gifted from Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth on Vimeo.

 If you cannot view this video please click HERE!

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The crisis of catechesis faced in the majority of Catholic churches is that parishioners have been...

...over Sacramentalised

  

and under evangelised since Vatican II...

...and have hence not fully heard the Gospel message of who the person of Christ truly is, and the authentic meaning of the Catholic Church's place in salvation history. 


As a consequence of being Over Sacramentalised and Under Evangelised they often struggle to bear fruit and can fail to accept the gifts and graces that they have been given, because the Gospel message has not been fully received and accepted.

"Many of our brothers and sisters are 'baptised, but insufficiently evangelised.' In a number of cases, nations once rich in faith and in vocations are losing their identity under the influence of a secularized culture. The need for a New Evangelisation, so deeply felt by my venerable Predecessor, must be valiantly reaffirmed, in the certainty that God's word is effective."

Pope Benedict XVI, 

Verbum Domini, 2010



DON'T GET STUCK IN THE 
KERYGMA STRAIT JACKET!

When entering the kerygma stage it is extremely important to not get stuck in what is referred to as the KERYGMA STRAIGHT JACKET. The kerygma stage in fact comes before spiritual childhood, and many Catholic youth organisations, adult initiatives, & charismatic organisations have been failing to help younger (and older Catholics), to move beyond this 'BABY PHASE' of spiritual development...


There is a time to move forward in the spiritual life. The diagram below gives an initial introduction to the spiritual life...