WHAT IS A SACRAMENT?

The original understanding of sacrament (sacramentum) was linked to a ‘solemn oath’. that a Roman soldier made to his commander. The early Christians adopted the language of sacramentum for baptism; just as the Roman soldier expressed his allegiance, so in the church/public ceremony a person expressed his/her willingness to stand up and be counted. Most importantly, baptism was not a matter of receiving something, which a person did not have prior to the ceremony, but rather it was a ritual ‘affirming’ the presence of the sacred, ‘with’ and ‘in’ that person being baptized.
Unfortunately, over time sacramental understanding was influence by the development of original sin or fall theology, the need for redemption and the church seeing itself as the only doorway to access to an elsewhere God. With this development came the understanding that the laity lived at a distance from God. Since the laity were steeped in sinfulness, they could be saved by the clergy who had special powers to access God’s presence. Sacraments became something people received.
Therefore, don’t we need to course correction? Don’t we need to regain an understanding of God’s presence of being already here with us.

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