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
