Symbolon: Part 2: Session 5: MATRIMONY & HOLY ORDERS: The Sacraments of Service & Communion
Please note: use the document enclosed in the Questions and Comments from the Two Symbolon Participant's Guides field to more effectively prepare for our discussions and to develop your own questions, comments, and observations!!!
Additional Documents:
Sacraments: God Uses the Material World to Sanctify Us,
Sacramental Living,
Matrimony,
What is a Sacramental Marriage,
Marriage, Sexuality, and Contraception,
Made in His Image,
Male and Female He Made Them,
The Dignity and Vocation of Women,
Chastity and Modesty,
The Catholic Family,
God’s Law,
Holy Orders,
Mass of Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood,
In Persona Christi: The Concept Explained,
Celibacy for the Sack of the Kingdom,
People of God,
The Priesthood of the Faithful,
Evangelization,
Women and the Priesthood, and
Titles, Terms, Ministries.
Please note: Use the Additional Documents field, of this webpage, to find referenced material Please print these articles, review them (include all questions, comments, and/or observations upon reading these excellent articles) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).
Lives of the Saints and Conversion Stories:
St. John Vianney,
St. John Bosco,
St. Thomas Aquinas, and
God Will Reveal His Plan to Us.
Please note: Use the Lives of the Saints and Conversion Stories field, of this webpage, to find referenced material. Please print these articles, review them (include all -- hey! that sounds like ?????, questions, comments, and/or observations upon reading these excellent life stories) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).
Psalms and Canticles
Psalm 40 and
Psalm 128.
Please note: Use the Psalms and Canticles field, of this webpage, to find referenced material. Please print these articles, review them (include all -- questions, comments, and/observations upon reading these excellent scripture passages) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).
Litanies and Prayers
The Litany of the Holy Family.
Please note: Use the Litanies and Prayers field, of this webpage, to find referenced material. Please print these articles, review them (include all -- questions, comments, and/observations upon reading these excellent prayers) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) Assignment:
1534-1593
2361-2363
1601-1658
2401-2449
Please note: Use the CCC articles references above to help build your understanding of this gathering. Please review them (include all -- questions, comments, and/observations upon reading these excellent CCC statements) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).
Small Group Questions
Vocations: God’s Call — Suggested Questions for Discussion: 1. What is the difference between a vocation and a job? Why do we need to discern our vocation? 2. How does a good marriage and devout family life contribute to the origin and nurturing of other kinds of vocations? 3. Why is it so important to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life? 4. Vocation is the way we are called to holiness. Why is effort and sacrifice a part of all vocations? 5. If God allows us to choose freely the path we are to follow, where can we find help to make such an important decision?
Matrimony — Suggested Questions for Discussion: 1. How does marriage in God’s plan differ from how marriage is understood in our culture? 2. How does the mutual love of the spouses reflect the inner life of the Trinity? 3. Why does a married couple need the grace of the sacrament of Matrimony to help them in their marriage? 4. What does it mean to be called to be “at the service of life” in Matrimony? 5. Is a Catholic marriage just for the procreation of children? 6. What does it mean when the Church teaches that sexuality concerns the innermost being of the human person? 7. How is marriage “for the good of the spouses?”
Holy Orders — Suggested Questions for Discussion: 1. Why is the priesthood essential to our relationship with Christ? 2. There are three degrees of Holy Orders. What does this mean? 3. Why do those in Holy Orders need our prayers? 4. In what way is the presence of a priest at one’s deathbed important? 5. What does it mean to say that the priest acts in the person of Christ (in persona Christi) in his sacramental ministry? 6. Why is it helpful to know that the minister’s sins or errors cannot impede the validity and fruitfulness of the sacraments, because the true minister is Christ?
Please note: Use the Small Group Questions listed above for this gathering. Please review them (include all -- questions, comments, and/observations upon reading these excellent discussion topics!) and bring them with you to the next OCIA gathering (class).