Shining a light on the sacraments

September 18, 2019 in Featured News, Featured Podcasts, News

Best-selling author Richard Leonard SJ speaks with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications on his latest book entitled Hatch, Match & Dispatch: A Catholic Guide to Sacraments with Paulist Press. The Australian Jesuit responds to the pastoral needs of the faithful by writing in an accessible way the history, liturgy, and theology of the seven sacraments, as well as the rite of Christian burial, where history, liturgy, and contemporary theology intersect.

Fr Leonard says, “As good as a lot of our formation has been, we get to these seven magnificent moments of grace and there’s so much we don’t know. I think if we had a bit of knowledge…then in fact it would just be a richer experience. So that’s one of the intents of the book.” Referring to the catchy title, he points out that ‘hatching’ is for baptism, ‘matching’ is for weddings and ‘dispatching’ is for funerals.

In this podcast interview, Fr Leonard describes in a humorous way how he came to realise the need for clarity, for example, on the sacrament of baptism. He also touches on the sacrament of matrimony: “God is found in the physical love of husband and wife…and I think that’s healthy sexuality that we should be reclaiming in the Church right now”.