It's good to remind ourselves what it is we Catholic Christians believe.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent who has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

(Deuteronomy 6:4, Luke 3:22)

We believe the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are inspired by God and are the revelation of God to man. 

(2 Timothy 3:15-17, 1 Peter 1:21)

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us, in His present rule as Head of the Church, and in His personal return in power and glory. 

(Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:31)

We believe the sacraments are “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” 

In other words, a sacrament is a sacred and visible sign that is instituted by Jesus to give us grace, an undeserved gift from God. 

(CCC 1131) (CCC 1084). 

We believe Christ was present at the inception of all of the sacraments, which He instituted 2,000 years ago. Christ is also present every time each sacrament is celebrated. 

The Catholic Church has all of the seven sacraments instituted by Christ, which include Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that “the seven sacraments touch all the stages and all important moments of the Christian life” 

(CCC 1210).