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Understanding the Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation is the sacrament that completes the grace we receive in Baptism. It seals or confirms, this grace through the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive as part of Confirmation. This sacrament also makes up better able to participate in the worship and apostolic life of the church. Like Baptism, Confirmation is received only once in a person's life.
The Effects of Confirmation are:
*it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation (as children of God)
* it unites us more firmly to Christ
* it increases the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in us
* it renders our bond with the Church more perfectly
* it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1303)
Through Jesus, we receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation:
Wisdom helps us recognize the importance of others and the importance of keeping God central in our lives.
Understanding is the ability to comprehend the meaning of God's message.
Knowledge is the ability to think about and explore God's Revelation and also to recognize that there are mysteries of faith beyond us.
Counsel [Right Judgment] is the ability to see the best way to follow God's plan when we have choices that relate to him.
Fortitude [Courage] is the courage to do what one knows is right.
Piety [Reverence] helps us pray to God in true devotion
Fear of the Lord [Wonder and Awe] is the feeling of amazement before God, who is all-present, and whose friendship we do not want to lose.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1831)
Every building needs a firm foundation. For Catholics, the firm foundation for our lives of faith is formed by the Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, those who have been baptized are sealed with the Holy Spirit, showing that they fully belong to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.
God is at work in the Sacrament of Confirmation, giving his guarantee that he is with his people and will protect them forever. Those being confirmed, in turn, are telling the world that they accept the invitation to live as followers of Jesus Christ. All this happens through the power of a very mysterious yet very real Person: the Holy Spirit.
OPEN YOUR MINDS AND HEARTS, AND INVITE THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO IT.
