Sacramental Thinking

I was visiting a blog, Path of Weis, and found a comment by Bryan that blew me away. In his comment he describes what I have been attempting to articulate for the past two years on this blog. I often talk about the "spirit good, body bad" paradigm I held to as a Protestant and how that predisposes one to being suspicious of "all things Catholic." As Catholics, we don't make that distinction and see that God can and does use all material things to His divine purpose. Water, wine, bread, etc. His grace comes to us through the physical since we are, after all, still physical beings.
So here is "sacramental thinking" from Bryan.

"Concerning ritual. We agree that Jesus commanded us to be baptized, and to celebrate the Eucharist. Those are not empty rituals. I can't explain it in a single paragraph; maybe I could just ask you (insofar as you trust me a little bit) to be aware that there is a *sacramental* way of thinking, and there is a non-sacramental way of thinking. If you have been in an Evangelical tradition (as I was), then you think in a non-sacramental way. No material thing is holy, in your view. Only God is holy. No physical action does anything to our soul. I mean, it doesn't matter whether you pray on your knees, or with folded hands, bowed head, etc. Body and soul are separate. But the sacramental way of thinking is very different. It treats body and soul as deeply interconnected and intertwined. When we kneel to pray, for example, we actually put our soul in a different disposition than when we sit. Some objects are holy. Some actions affect our souls, like making the sign of the cross while saying "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Some matter is holy, like holy water. (You can find that in the Old Testament.) I can't explain it all in a combox comment, but just be patient with yourself, because it takes a lot of time to understand, let alone transition from a non-sacramental way of thinking to a sacramental way of thinking.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding your concern that you know no pious and devout Catholics is that true holiness does not flaunt itself. In fact, if you walked passed it on the street, you might just walk right past it, without noticing it. It is very much unlike the persona of various TV preachers, for whom it is all about them. I didn't know virtuous Catholics either before becoming Catholic. I just knew a few, and they were mostly authors, not people I could meet face-to-face. But then after meeting just a few orthodox Catholics, I saw that here was real holiness. I met a family with eight children, and the children were so amazing in their virtue and piety that I was amazed. If only I could raise my children to turn out that well, I thought. And after being received into the Church, I discovered many holy Catholics. I see them every day now at daily mass. These people are saints. They are quiet; they are in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel every day, praying and praying. They love Jesus intensely, and deeply. They have the "mere". They come early in the morning, just to pray. They fast on Fridays. Some stand in prayer outside the abortion clinic on Saturday mornings. Others serve the poor by working in the St. Vincent DePaul Society, and working with Catholic Charities. One of the ladies I see at daily mass has a bad leg, and she takes the bus to come to mass, and then she goes over to the hospital as a volunteer, and brings the sacrament to those who are sick in the hospital. Never complains, always greets me with a face full of joy and a hug. She has no money. She lives in a very poor apartment. She is a widow, and yet she gives herself all the time to others. But outside the Church looking in, you would never know such people exist. They are quiet, hidden, unknown. They don't blow a trumpet before they do good deeds. They are, in that respect, like Jesus Himself. Isaiah tells us, "He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." (Isaiah 53:2-3) The Church, which is the Body of Christ, imitates Christ in this very way. It is so human that you just walk right past it, not even recognizing it for what it is. "Oh, that is the Church Christ founded? I've been walking right past it all these years. You've got to be kidding me! Oh, that person was a saint? You've got to be kidding me. I had no idea that she was doing all these things behind the scenes. But now that you mention it, there was something about her; it was charity -- she exuded it in a way that drew no attention to herself. Wow. If only I had known, I would have talked to her more. Don't worry, there are many more just like her. The world does not notice them, because like their Lord, they have no stately form or majesty or appearance that we should be attracted to them. The Church is much bigger on the inside than on the outside, just as a person is much bigger on the inside than on the outside, and just as heaven is much bigger on the inside than on the outside."