Ask a Catholic: Are Sacraments Necessary to Get to Heaven?

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Commentary by Mitch Finley

Are Sacraments Necessary to Get to Heaven?

The only requirement for “getting to heaven” that Jesus articulates in the Gospels is the need to love God with one’s whole being and one’s neighbor as oneself.

The sacraments are given to us as ways to nourish, in various ways, an active love for God and neighbor. They are means to an end, not ends in themselves.

Above all, sacraments are not to be understood in magical ways, i.e. “If I am baptised, participate in the Mass / Eucharist regularly, etc., then I will ‘get to heaven.'”

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