The Promises of Our Lord

Jesus came down to earth to Save us from our sinful nature and to die an excruciatingly painful death for our sake, but He left us with much more to assist us on our journey to Heaven. First, He gave us Baptism and His Church for us to be part of the Family of God.

• He made (7) seven solemn promises known as Covenants or Sacraments. Jesus does not make promises lightly, He means what He says, and we must obey, or we may be doomed to misery and suffering forever.

• Baptism is mandatory. We become members of His Family or Church and part of the Kingdom of God when we are baptized. His Church is NOT a building but His People, you and I, who were baptized. Conditionally means we must continually repent during our life and receive the Eucharist, His body and blood soul, and divinity of Jesus. He gave us the Eucharist as divine food that we must receive often to be in the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Without this food, we just wither and die like the pruned branch tossed into the fire.

• Anointing of the Sick or the Last Promise. The church now allows people to receive this Sacrament if they are sick, either their body or spirit. Most Catholic Parishes have an annual Mass for Anointing the Sick. Call them, mark your calendar and go to that Mass to receive the Sacrament annually. If you are gravely ill, undergoing major surgery soon, or going off to war or hazardous situation such as a police officer or fireman call a Priest at once to receive this Sacrament Anointing of the Sick.

• This is a Sacrament to aid and guarantee entry into Heaven if we repent and are truly sorry for all sins if we should die suddenly. Think about it, we may have been sinful all our lives and never obeyed God. But we are God’s children, He loves us dearly and wants us to be with Him forever.

• His Divine Promise or Anointing of the Sick probably gives us one last chance if we repent and are truly sorry for all the evil we have caused during our life. Then, all that will be wiped away by the Priest saying a short prayer and anointing the palms of both hands and your forehead. It takes less than 30 seconds. You do not have to say one word, just be present, stand in the line and receive the anointing. This is truly a fantastic gift Our Lord has given to all of us – those who have been baptized including Protestants.

• The other (5) Promises or Sacraments are to aid us or provide extra help or graces during our brief journey on this earth towards Heaven. You probably know them all, Reconciliation, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, and Holy Orders.

• The first two are Repentance (Confession) and receiving The Eucharist, Our Lord’s body and blood often. Do we understand how this can happen? No, we don’t it’s a mystery, but we better obey Our Lord, do what He says, and receive His Body and Blood in Holy Communion frequently.

• Marriage and Holy Orders are similar. Marriage is a Sacramental Promise between a man, a woman, and God (not between two men or two women), and Holy Orders is the marriage in a sense between a Priest and God. A Priest, Deacon, Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal, and Pope are all priests who carry out the plans of our Lord and Savior for the benefit of His Church (His People) not some building we call a church.