In the previous chapter we have seen that the sacraments are cul-
minating points in the more general sacramental way of life of
Christianity. This, however, raises an important problem. If we are
to sound the most profound depths of the tragedy which afflicts the
life of faith, we are bound to come sharply up against the experi-
ence that, however basically sincere our desire for grace and how-
ever genuine our trust in God may be, the resultant effects in our
active Christian life do not, despite frequent good moments, really
measure up completely to our desire for grace or our trust in God.
It is a common human experience that the frequent reception of the
sacraments does not always result in a mature Christian life. But
this is of course just what we hoped to gain from our frequentation
of the sacraments. We expected the strength of their grace, which is
much more powerful than our own disposition, to break through.
into our lives and have an effect upon all our actions. This problem
brings us face to face with the mystical quality of the seven sacra-
ments.

We must stress that contact with God is itself the sacrament
which ultimately bears fruit. It is within this sacrament of contact
with God that God's dispensation of grace and man's response to it
are intimately woven together. We should, however, be careful not
to infer from this that it is our own personal sacramental act which
sets the tone for this gift of grace. What in fact our sacramental
does do is to set the tone for God's gift of grace insofar as we have

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