Do We Know Jesus?

. . . The rise of Christian fundamentalism in our country gives us another reason to deepen our grasp of the sacraments. Today in our country there are fundamentalist Christians who see our devotion to the sacraments and our involvement with ritual and conclude mistakenly that we Catholics are not real Christians at all, but members of some kind of cult. It looks to them as if we do not believe in Jesus or read the Bible.

Many Catholic families are disrupted when a son or daughter, father or aunt, embraces fundamentalism and then informs Catholic family members that they are not saved and are bound for hell. In these painful moments we must each have a good understanding of our faith—not only for our own peace of mind but also to be able to clarify erroneous definitions of Catholic sacrament and worship.

Nothing can be further from the truth, by the way, than the accusation that we do not know Jesus and the Bible. If there is anything we can say about the Mass—or any of the sacraments—it is this: They all start with Jesus. For example, although the Baltimore Catechism’s definition of sacrament does not mention the Bible, the Church clearly teaches that "Sacred Scripture is of the greatest importance" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #24) in the celebration of the Mass and the sacraments. .. . . more (read this entire article, “It All Starts With Jesus” by Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. by clicking on the following link) http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0893.asp

Learn more about the sacraments by following the link below
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13295a.htm