Can a person be saved by a sacramental sign or by belonging to the Church? Theological Reflection for Easter 2008 By Fr. Tim Kelly The distinction between the ritual act of the Church and the grace of the sacrament has been made because some people believe that sacramental actions are simply the personal actions of a priest using his personal status to make intercession with the divine. This excludes the Holy Spirit’s central role in imparting grace, and is a false theology of priesthood and sacrament, where the priest is not acting for the entire church, but instead from some personal charism. Augustine shared this concern when he wrote, Why did I say this? Because many have doorposts marked with the sign and the Indweller does not remain inside; easily do they have the sign of Christ on their forehead and do not receive the word of Christ in their heart. 1
To be saved, a person needs both res and signum. Ideally one should get the sacraments of the Church and be personally converted to Christ as Lord. This combination of ritual action and personal conversion is the ideal to which the Church aspires, and it is the goal of RCIA programs and of the Christian formation programs in parishes. To attempt to bring a person to Christ by classes and by intellectual formation alone is foolish and will be unsuccessful. All learning must include participation in divine liturgy and prayer. Thus, the Church has its Lenten scrutinizes and its insistence that candidates and catechumens participate in para-liturgies and in prayer. 1 In Joh. Evang. Tract. 50, 2, 3. CCSL xxxvi, 434. “Quare hoc dixi? Quia multi pastes habent signatos, et intus non mallet habitator; facile habent in fronte signum Christi, et corde non recipiunt verbum Christi.
In Catholic theology, one always has to make a distinction between the public sign and the internal reality. Like the case of the Raising of Lazarus, where Christ makes a public sign to God, “Lazarus come forth” so that people may come to believe. Jesus already knows that God will give Lazarus back his life. The sign of his prayer and intercession is necessary so that people may see and learn. The outside action or sign, the signum is never enough, there is a reality, (res) which must accompany the pubic sacrament. That reality is a change or conversion of the heart.