The Bible is a Sacramental

The Bible is sacramental: it represents the truths of God (symbolizes them). For example, the brazen serpent is a symbol of Jesus. If you look at the poisonless serpent, you are cured of the venom. If you look at the sinless man, you are cured of sin. This comes to us as a great mystery: we cannot understand how God was contained in a man. Like Christ, the sacraments are signs of God and our salvation. They work for us because as men, we need material signs of Him.

A Divine Sense of Humor

A sense of humor means one can see through things. Since sacraments are symbols, one must be able to see through them in order to grasp their divine meaning. Our age has lost this sense of humor. We no longer see reality as a sacrament of Him. We must always realize that we are seeing the Divine Image in one another. We must be careful not to go too far with this however. God and his creations must be kept separate. At the same time, we cannot separate ourselves from Him. We must realize that the universe is a sign or indication of God. 

Seven Conditions of Life

Regular Life/Divine Life

-One must be born/Baptism

-He must nourish himself/Eucharist

-He must mature/Confirmation

-He must have his wounds healed/Penance

-He must have his diseases cured/Anointing of the Sick

-He must live under government and justice/Holy Orders

-He is called to propagate the human species/Matrimony

The Power and Efficacy of the Sacraments

The sacraments get their power and efficacy from the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord. These three things all center around his blood being shed. The sacraments get their power from this bloodshed because blood symbolizes the purification of sin, the sacrifice Christ performed for us, and infinite value of his sinless life. We will be saved by the Blood of Christ. 

The Application of the Sacraments

The sacraments are the pipelines that connect us to the reservoir of grace that is Christ. The application of this grace can have all kinds of different results depending on when it acts on one's life. The effect of the grace will also vary based on the spiritual state and maturity of the one receiving it. 

What the Sacraments Bring to Man

The Sacraments make a higher life, or grace, accessible to man. This higher life is a free gift of God, and grants an inner peace and provides infinite love that cannot be found in the pleasures of the flesh or intellectually. We must open ourselves to God in order to receive this gift. Also, the Sacraments help us to do this by making Jesus present for us. Interacting with the sacraments is the same as interacting with Jesus as if he were alive.