The life of the church revolves around the seven sacraments, especially the Eucharist. There are three sacraments of initiation into the Christ-life: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. There are two sacraments that are channels of God’s forgiveness and healing at certain times in life: Reconciliation (Penance or Confession) and the Anointing of the Sick. There are two sacraments that mark a significant change in one’s life in response to God’s call: Ordination (Holy Orders) and Matrimony.
All the sacraments are signs and channels of God’s grace, making God’s love present to believers.
The sacraments bear fruit both in the person and in the church. The believer deepens their life in Christ, and their relationship to God. The church deepens their desire to ‘love one another’ as Christ commanded, and is energized for Christ’s mission, and as witnesses to his gospel.
Baptism
Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3,5
Baptism is the foundation of the Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as children of God. We become members of the Body of Christ, a member of the Church, the People of God, and the Church’s mission becomes our mission.
In Baptism we begin the beautiful journey of friendship with Jesus. As a Parish Family, we rejoice to add new members in Baptism. Please call the office at least 6 weeks prior to your requested date to ensure time for your preparation of this most special sacrament.
Coordinators: Dale & Sally Webster – 250-486-8499
Confirmation
Jesus greeted them and said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:21-23
The sacrament of Confirmation builds on the baptismal grace, and is received only once, strengthening the recipients in the power of the Spirit, so that they may deepen their life as disciples of Jesus and witnesses to his life and the gospel.
A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs.
Eucharist / Holy Communion
Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, that one will live forever.
John 6:51
For the People of God, the Eucharist is at the heart of their life as church. It is here that we experience the presence of Christ in the Word, in the breaking of the Bread and in one another.
We remember and make present Christ’s Passover from life, through death, to new life. Joined with Christ, we make reparation for the sins and sinfulness of humans everywhere. In the Eucharist, with Jesus we offer to God our praise and thanksgiving. At Christ’s invitation to “take and eat”, we become more deeply one with him and with one another, and are renewed for the journey of life.
Reconciliation / Confession
Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”
Matthew 18: 22-23
Like the People of God in the Old Testament, the People of God today, sometimes fail in their commitment to God. Various “idols” can be put in the place of God, including the “idol” of “self” one’s wants, needs, desires at the expense of God and everyone else. As in the Old Testament, God calls the People of God today to turn, to re-turn, to be converted, and to make right the relationships that have been affected by sinful and selfish choices – relationship to God, to one’s own self as a child of God, and to the other members of the church and world who are always affected by one’s personal choices.
God, rich in mercy, longing for our return to right relationship, offers grace to choose repentance, confession, reconciliation, penance. We can pray for this grace for ourselves and for others, a grace that allows sorrow to rise up in our hearts and a new choice to make relationships right in the future.
The grace prompts us to disclose our wrong choices, our sorrow, and our intention to return to right relationship with God and God’s creation, other human beings. As a sign of God’s love and joy at our return, the priest speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement, and suggests a ‘penance’, some small way of indicating our change of heart and life.
God’s grace goes further, offering peace and serenity of conscience, and strength for the lifelong struggle to maintain right relationship with God and others.
The Parishes of Penticton offer regular reconciliation as follows:
- St. John Vianney: Sundays from 8:00-8:30am
- Sacred Heart: Sundays after Mass (2:00-2:30pm)
- St. Ann’s: Saturdays from 4:00-4:30pm
Anointing of the Sick / Hospital & Home Visits
Is there anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him and anoint him in the name of the Lord. This prayer, made in faith, will save the sick man. The Lord will restore his health, and if he has committed any sins, they will be forgiven.
James 5:14-15
During His public life Jesus identified Himself with the sick and suffering, and much of his ministry was dedicated to miracles of healing and forgiveness. His compassion for the sick continues in the life and ministry of the Church, particularly in the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. The passage from the Letter of James is the scriptural basis for the Anointing of the Sick, the sacrament through which the church continues to carry out the healing ministry of Jesus.
This Sacrament is not only for those at the point of death, but should be administered by a priest to a baptized Catholic, whether practicing or not, who has reached the age of reason and who begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age, or who will be having a serious surgery, who is weakened, though not dangerously ill, because of old age.
The sacrament can be received whenever the sick person again falls into a serious sickness after convalescing or when a more serious crisis develops during the same sickness. The Church encourages the celebration of this sacrament within the Celebration of Eucharist, with special prayers and readings.
In the home or hospital the priest begins with the sign of the cross and the sprinkling with holy water recalling our Baptism. Depending on the condition of the sick person, the priest may read from the Scriptures and offer prayers. The priest then imposes hands over the head of the one to be anointed and anoints the forehead and hands of the sick person. The priest prays for the sick person, and invites those present to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Communion may be received.. The priest then blesses the sick person and all those present.
Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who frees you from sin, save you and raise you up.
Paul VI
Please call or notify the Parish of hospitalized and shut-in parishioners.
Matrimony / Marriage
‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not humans separate.
Matthew 19:5-6
“By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God.” This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple’s love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.”
Christ is the source of this grace. Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,” and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb.
The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.
Contact the office at least 6 months prior to the date for preparation. Please let us know how we can assist you.
Ordination / Priesthood / Diaconate / Religious Life
Every priest, acting on behalf of the people, is to offer gifts and reparation for his own sins and those of the people. One does not presume to take this honour, but accepts it only when called by God.
Heb. 5: 1-4
The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the “common priesthood of the faithful.” Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ in the midst of the community.
The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching , divine worship, and pastoral governance.Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters (priests), and that of deacons.
Do you think that the Lord might be calling you? Contact the Pastor 250-492-3162 or Vocation Director 1-250-860-6776 bartvroijen@hotmail.com.