From the Pastor’s Desk:

Last Sunday I met with young people who are beginning their spiritual studies to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.  In confirmation we receive courage and other gifts of the Holy Spirit we need in order to be witnesses to Christ in our daily lives.  Through the sacrament of Confirmation we are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit and we are to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.  We are enabled to take on a more active role within the Church.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is a special event in the life of an individual Catholic and the entire parish family.  Its call and grace confirm discipleship.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit help to form a Christian more fully in the image of Jesus Christ.  We use the term an adult Catholic within the Church with all the responsibilities that parents had accepted when they asked to have their son or daughter baptized.  Thus, Vatican II decreed that the rite of the sacrament be revised–that those receiving the sacrament be fully educated so that its connection with the whole church and the rite of Christian Initiation be understood.

As early as the 7th Century, the post-baptismal anointing with Sacred Chrism by the bishop became the regular practice in the Western Roman Catholic Church.  Medieval theologians saw   Confirmation as a gift of the Holy Spirit for the strengthening of the candidate’s inner life and  social witness.  By the 16th century, the general practice after the Tridentine reforms was to confirm, as an affirmation or public profession, the baptismal commitment that had been made by parents and      godparents at the time of Baptism. .The word confirmation means “strengthening.”  The Catholic Catechism states,“ the sacrament of confirmation both confirms baptism and strengthens baptismal grace.”

Following Vatican II, two major understandings and approaches to the sacrament of  Confirmation became accepted: 1) the importance of Confirmation as a part of the RCIA with the Easter Vigil; 2) the maturity model as a person becomes more active within the Church, using their gifts and talents for the building up of God’s Kingdom by asking for the fullness of the Holy Spirit in one’s life.  Our Diocese has placed the normal age for the reception of Confirmation around 13-14 years of age.