I begin this with the understanding that not everyone sees things as I do. As much as I can, I hold forth the ideals and power of Scripture as the ultimate source of salvation and leadership in my life. I reject the notions of people as to how things should be done if it goes contrary to Scripture. I am human, and my own experience in life does color my perceptions at times, but when that happens, I always try to point out that this is my personal thought, not necessarily the Bible’s.

         I often see things that lights a fire under me but does not bother others. Perhaps this is one of those things. You may look at this and shrug your shoulders and say it doesn’t apply to you. You may look at this and not see the urgency. You may look at this and wonder why Pastor is boring us today. But it is a terrible thing to me.

         Just for some background, the Roman Catholic saint Augustine said centuries ago that only the holy go to heaven. In order to show holiness, one must do the seven sacraments of the Church. It follows, then, that one must do the sacraments to go to heaven. The word ‘sacrament’ is just another word for ‘ritual’ and may, or may not, have any roots in Scripture. The sacraments are;

1.)Baptism-Usually administered to infants, but can be given at any time, especially if a person converts to Catholicism later in life. The purpose is to absolve the person from the original sin of Adam, thus ensuring the infant will go to heaven if they die as infants. The water used in the sprinkling or pouring must be holy water, blessed by the Vatican.

2.)Confession and Penance-This is the act of confessing one’s sin and then doing something to atone for that sin. The sins are confessed to a priest who then gives some little act to do to be granted atonement. Apparently, the atonement of Jesus was not enough.

3.)Eucharist-We would call this Communion, only with a twist. First, it must be done at every Mass. The Catholics believe that the wafer becomes the actual body of Christ when it touches the tongue and the wine actually becomes the blood of Christ as it is consumed.

4.)Confirmation-This is the act of bringing the Holy Spirit into one’s life. This is done through study, good deeds and confession. Usually given to children at around twelve years of age. However, if one is converting it can be given at any time.

5.)Matrimony-The act of getting married. The purpose of marriage is to produce children. Therefore, no unnatural form of contraception may be used.

6.)Anointing the sick-This is done by the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. The oil used must be blessed by the Vatican.

7.)Holy Orders-All Catholics are tasked with the job of spreading the word of the Church. At the higher levels there are the clergy, beginning with the Pope, then the cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons and monks, nuns, or sisters. Of all of these, only the deacons are allowed to embrace the sacrament of Matrimony. The others are forbidden to marry.

Biblically speaking, none of these Sacraments are required for salvation. Penance comes the closest, but we confess to the Lord, not the priest.

Obviously, there are dozens of other rituals performed by the Catholic church that we see as pointless or downright blasphemous. But we forget just how tied these people are to their rituals.

And all of this brings me to an article I read on Tuesday.

Andres Arango is a Brazilian born Catholic priest most recently serving as pastor in Phoenix, Arizona. Before that, he served in San Diego and before that, in Brazil. For over twenty years he has served as a priest.

However, this beloved priest is no longer serving. The Roman Catholic church that, for perhaps centuries, has turned a blind eye to power, financial and sexual abuse, is lowering the boom on the Rev. Arango. And what despicable atrocity is he guilty of these last twenty odd years?

The correct words a Roman Catholic priest is to use during a baptism is, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” For over twenty years the Rev. Arango has said, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Yes, you have read that right. This despicable man said, “We baptize” rather than “I baptize.” Therefore, all baptisms he has performed are invalid.

In his apology letter, priest Arango says it saddens him to find out he has been performing baptisms in wrong fashion for his whole ministry. If this is true then he didn’t realize he was in the wrong and his invalid baptisms probably numbers into the hundreds, or even the thousands.  

The words they say at all such occasions (baptisms, funerals, weddings and such) are called formulas. They will include their own little sermon, but they are locked in to the formula. To the Catholic, “We baptize you” indicates everyone in attendance has a hand in the baptism. “I baptize you” is just Jesus Christ doing the baptism, through the physical efforts of the priest, who is His appointed stand in.

In Catholic ideology, because all of these people were baptized incorrectly, they will go to Hell since they have not kept the first sacrament. Fortunately, you can go online and get it sorted out. Thank goodness for the internet! 

So, you might say that yes, this is absurd, but it is their problem. However, it is a human problem. We say right in our own church constitution that we have two sacraments, baptism and Communion. We don’t even consider the ‘sacrament’ just means ‘ritual.’ We are a ritual people. If you say, “We have never done it that way,” or “we have always done it this way,” you are expressing ritual. Sitting in the same pew, parking in the same space, eating your vegetables before your meat; ritual. Individuals have rituals, families have rituals, churches have rituals.

Rituals can stunt a person’s mental and Spiritual growth, rituals can destroy families and rituals can kill churches. Today, in the minds of hundreds and hundreds young people, they are going to Hell because their priest said ‘We’ instead of ‘I.’ In reality, it is their adherence to these rituals that is sending them to Hell.

You do not need rituals. You need Jesus as Savior and the Holy Spirit as Guide. If we open ourselves up to the Lord, we will have real freedom rather than the bondage of ritual.