Why We Need Rituals and Sacraments

All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri

Ascension

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5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If we want to encounter God, do we really need rituals and sacraments? Dr. Sri delves into the origins and purpose of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church, explaining their Biblical basis and the incredible graces they confer.

Snippet from the Show

"The sacraments, instituted by Christ, make us more aware of the deeper invisible realities."
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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is brought to you by Ascension.
0:03.0	To discover even more free Catholic podcasts, videos, and resources, to help you live your faith every day, visit ascensionpress.com.
0:11.0	Hi, I'm Edwards Three, and welcome to all things Catholic, where real faith meets real life.
0:26.8	Do we really need the sacraments?
0:30.9	The Catholic Church talks about seven sacraments, but some people in the world may wonder,
0:33.1	why do you need all this ritual?
0:37.1	If I want to encounter God, do I really need all these sacraments?
0:38.8	It just seems so complicated.
0:41.8	Can I just have a spiritual relationship with God?
0:43.1	Why do I need to go through all this ritual?
0:47.8	Why do I need to go find some priest and go to some church and have the ceremony performed where he reads words out of some book and there's bread and wine and water and oil?
0:52.2	If I want to encounter God, do I really need all that?
0:56.2	I mean, can't I just have a personal relationship with Jesus? Why do I need all this ritual
1:01.4	and getting a priest and all these ritual words and these ritual actions? Does God really need all
1:07.3	that to work powerfully in my life? To fill me with his love, to fill me with
1:11.9	his grace? Does God really need all that? And doesn't that limit God's power? Isn't God able to
1:17.2	work apart from the sacraments? Does he really need us to perform all these rituals before he'll
1:21.4	act powerfully in our lives? These are questions that I've heard from many friends over the years,
1:26.9	whether it's secular friends or Protestant friends, and I think they're fair questions. But I also think there's some great answers. And that's what we're going to take a look at in this week's podcast. So welcome to All Things Catholic. I'm your host, Edward Sri. And, you know, I love the sacraments. I love looking at them from scripture. I love teaching about them, and certainly I love receiving the sacraments.
1:47.4	But over the years, I've heard these questions.
1:49.4	These are the questions many people have out there.
1:51.6	And there's even good Catholics that may wonder, huh, I wonder why we do all these sacraments.
	...

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