I'd suggest you look at this link on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There's a bit of reading involved, but this is the official written summary of Catholic Belief.
Catechism of the Catholic Church - The sacraments of the Christian initiation
It states there are seven sacraments, whereas most Protestant Churches only have two - Baptism and The Lord's Supper.
Dictionary.com defined them as follows (link refers -
the definition of sacrament)
"Ecclesiastical. a visible sign of an inward grace, especially one of the solemn Christian rites considered to have been instituted by Jesus Christ to symbolize or confer grace: the sacraments of the Protestant churches are baptism and the Lord's Supper; the sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, penance, holy orders, and extreme unction."
The definition of a sacrament then is a "visible sign of an inward grace".
As a Baptist, I'd assume you accept Baptism as a sacrament as a visible sign of an invisible grace. When an adult is baptised by immersion in your tradition, you would surely accept that they are being sealed by the Holy Spirit. But you don't see the Spirit in action - no dove comes down out of heaven as it did in the unique case of Christ at the hands of John the Baptist. You accept an invisible grace has occurred, but the process of Baptism is the visible sign.
In a similar way it could be argued that the other sacraments are also invisible signs of an invisible grace - again I've lifted someone's else's work to avoid reinventing the wheel, although I've simplified and modified the arrangement a bit, adding a few terms that might make some terms a bit more familiar to Protestants.
Living Sacramentally: Showing Visible Signs of Invisible Grace - SMM Sisters
1. Baptism - evokes the loving care with which a parent cradles and bathes a newborn baby.
2. Reconciliation / Penance / Confession - calls us to right relationship with others through the power of forgiveness.
3. Communion / Eucharist / Lord's Supper - reflects the need we have to nourish and sustain one another at the table.
4. Confirmation - affirms one’s readiness to go on to the next level.
5. Marriage - celebrates our call to lovingly create family and community.
6. Holy Orders - celebrates our reverence of the call to help bring God to others. (eg. when a priest or nun is ordained - and if the ordainment of a Baptist pastor is a purely human affair, whence comes his claim to speak on God's behalf to others? Is God speaking through him, or are his words purely human with no spiritual input whatsoever?)
7. Anointing of the Sick (formerly Extreme Unction) - reflects our empathy with those who are struggling with ill health - Christ and the Apostles went a step further, and healed them by the power of God (but even then nobody would have seen how God did it - the laying on of hands was simply the visible sign of an invisible grace).
The key definition is
"a visible sign of an invisible grace". That's what you need to take on board as the starting point.
Whether the participants take it seriously or not is another thing altogether - any number of people walk away from the church later - but in the long run they'll answer for it. God takes the sacraments seriously even if we don't,
and He'll hold us accountable.
