Sacrament n.- an outward sign instituted
by Jesus Christ to give us inward grace.
Sign n.- any thing seen, heard, tasted,
smelt, or felt which represents something other than itself.
Institute v. - to establish, arrange,
and set in action.
An
Excerpt of
THESE
ARE THE SACRAMENTS
by Archbishop
Fulton J. Sheen
A
DIVINE SENSE OF HUMOR
No one can ever understand the sacraments unless he has what might
be called a "divine sense of humor." A person is said
to have a sense of humor if he can "see through" things;
one lacks a sense of humor if he cannot "see through"
things. No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the
one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is opaque
like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just
a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints,
the world is transparent like a window pane--it tells of something
beyond; for example, a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset
of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity.
When the Lord Incarnate walked this earth, He brought to it what
might be called a "divine sense of humor." There is only
one thing that He took seriously, and that was the soul. He said:
"What exchange shall a man give for his soul?" everything
else was a tell-tale of something else. Sheep and goats, wine bottles
and patches on clothing, camels and eyes of needles, the lightning
flash and the red of the sunset sky, the fisherman's nets and Caesar's
coin, chalices and rich men's gates--all of these were turned into
parables and made to tell the story of the Kingdom of God.
Our Lord had a divine sense of humor, because He revealed that
the universe was sacramental. A sacrament, in a very broad sense
of the term, combines two elements: one visible, the other invisible--one
that can be seen, or tasted, or touched, or heard; the other unseen
to the eyes of the flesh. There is, however, some kind of relation
or significance between the two. A spoken word is a kind of sacrament,
because there is something material or audible about it; there is
also something spiritual about it, namely, its meaning. A horse
can hear a funny story just as well as a man. It is conceivable
that the horse may hear the words better than the man and at the
end of the story the man may laugh, but the horse will never give
a horse laugh. The reason is that the horse gets only the material
side of the "sacrament," namely, the sound; but the man
gets the invisible or the spiritual side, namely, the meaning.
A handshake is a kind of sacrament, because there is something
seen and felt, namely, the clasping of hands; but there is something
mysterious and unseen, namely, the communication of friendship.
A kiss is a kind of sacrament: the physical side of it is present
if one kisses one's own hand, but the spiritual side of it is missing
because there is no sign of affection for another. One of the reasons
why a stolen kiss is often resented is that it is not sacramental;
it has the carnal side without a spiritual side; that is, the willingness
to exchange a mark of esteem or affection.
Copyright 1962 by Hawthorn Books, Inc., NY, NY
