The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.  [T]he visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions (CCC 1131). The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts.  Thus the sacraments strengthen faith and express it (CCC 1133). The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial. For every one of the faithful [o]n the one hand, this fruit is life for God in Christ Jesus; for the Church, on the other, it is an increase in charity and in her mission of witness (CCC 1134).

In sacramental preparation and afterward, we must reimagine how we prepare individuals so that they may form a spiritual disposition open to God’s graces received in the Sacraments.  We must provide opportunities for each of our children, youth, adults, and families to experience  Jesus  and  invite God  to  touch  their  minds,  their  bodies,  and  their  spirits  to  seek conversion  and  to  hear  the  call  to  follow  Jesus.  Sacramental preparation must truly be an evangelizing process that begins with accompaniment.  Who will be Ananias to our children, youth, adults, and families as they prepare to receive the sacraments and the graces afforded? What is the best process or plan for faith development for each individual and family?

Our children and youth in Faith Formation should have a clear path to discipleship, especially those   preparing   to   receive   the   Sacraments   of   Initiation:  Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confirmation. The graces of the Sacraments are real. Are we fostering these graces in ways that are making disciples, or are we simply “checking off a sacramental box”? To make disciples, there has to be a real shift from maintenance to mission in our parishes, families, schools, and ministries. If we continue simply “checking boxes” and have no real faith formation process and no real accompaniment, then we are still in maintenance mode. Given the diversity of our life experiences, these pathways to discipleship also need to be diverse in order to allow a faith formation plan for each individual, especially for those seeking the Sacraments of the Church.

Imagine the impact if each of our children, youth, and adults who are presented for the Sacraments of Initiation has a faith formation plan and a disciple and/or a faith support group to accompany them. Imagine that each is personally accompanied in faith and in a relationship that enables the person to grow in faith, face the areas of weakness or sin, and seek the living God hand in hand with a disciple. Imagine also our newly Confirmed youth formed and prepared to accompany younger budding disciples in their path to discipleship. If this were true for each of our parishes, families, schools, and ministries, imagine the Church we would have! 

1. What needs to shift in sacramental preparation to enable the making of disciples?
2. How might the graces made present by a sacrament not bear fruit in everyone who receives the sacrament?
3. What does it mean to say that in sacramental preparation we need to be sure we are not simply “checking off a sacramental box”?
4. How will we accompany those preparing to receive the sacraments to enable growth and movement through the thresholds of conversion and faith?