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From the Catechism . . .
1113 . . . The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments.
1114 . . . “Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic traditions, and to the consensus of the Fathers,” we profess that “the sacraments of the new law were . . . all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1116 . . . Sacraments are “powers that comes forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever living. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant
1118 . . . The sacraments are “of the Church” in the double sense that they are “by her” and “for her.” They are “by the Church, “ for she is the sacrament of Christ’s action at work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit. They are “for the Church” in the sense that “the sacraments make the Church,“ since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with God who is love, One in three persons.
1123 . . . “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith.’”
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