Sacraments of Service

Baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of Christ’s disciples, a vocation to mission and to evangelizing the world. They confer the graces needed for the life according to the Spirit during this life as pilgrims on the march toward the homeland. Two other sacraments, holy orders and matrimony, are directed toward the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the church and serve to build up the people of God.