Monica,

Well put (and obviously, I agree...)

As to this whole concept of sacraments as something akin to "rights of passage," I think the model is under growing pressure.

One of our adult daughters wanted to sit out her confirmation, as she had some serious doubts a to what she was being taught and asked to believe.  Alas, the peer pressure was immense, not to mention the thought of somehow "embarrassing" her family parents if she didn't go along.  That "one size fits all" mentality may be convenient at the parish level, but kids don't fit that model.

In many ways, the church has become a victim of its own treatment of the laity as cattle.  There's a difference between the demands of an organized religion, and the very personal demands of a person's own faith life.  I think that until the institution can recognize and act on that, it will continue to fade as a force in society.