Catechism series - Confirmation

Last year I've had the privilege to co-teach 8th grade CCD. The topic of study was the Sacrament of Confirmation. And that's what we're going to talk about today. By the way, for those of you who do not know what CCD stands for, it stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

So what is Confirmation? One of the children said, "It's when you become an adult in the church." Rightly so. We are already given gifts during Baptism, we just cannot fully use them. We need the Holy Spirit. I gave this example to the children. I asked them what the best car they wanted to drive. I received a few responses but we decided to go for the Ferrari. Ok, let's say you receive a Ferrari on your 15th birthday. You can't really drive the thing but its yours. Now let's say you're 18 (or maybe even 21) now. At this age, you can drive the car and do what you will with it (as long as it's legal. of course). Confirmation works the same way in analogy. We get the gifts but we cannot use them properly in Baptism. Upon Confirmation, these gifts get unlocked and therefore we have full use of them. We can now drive the Ferrari.

Let me go old school on this again. Confirmation is the sacrament on which we receive the Holy Spirit to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Christ. The ordinary minister of the sacrament is a bishop.

The bishop lays his hands on the candidate and says the following: "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." I witnessed the confirmation of our students. It was long but it is also a testament fo what we are as Christians.

The sacrament of Confirmation is mentioned in bible passages like Acts 8:14-17, 9:17, 19:6 and Heb 6:1-2.

On another note, one can receive Confirmation even if the person is in mortal sin. The candidate will not receive the graces, however, until this person goes to Confession. It's pretty much the same with Marriage which is a story for another time. We must at least encourage candidates to receive Confirmation worthily. That means being in a state of grace.

Confirmation increases sanctifying grace. It imprints a lasting character into the soul. You become marked by God and that mark cannot be removed. This indelible sign marks the Christian as a soldier in the army of Christ. Hey, we become soldiers!

There are seven gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit upon Confirmation. We are given all of these gifts, all of them, permanently. They are given so we can know God more and be closer to him. These gifts are enumerated in Isa 11:2-3. They are:

1. Wisdom
2. Understanding
3. Counsel
4. Fortitude
5. Knowledge
6. Piety
7. Fear of the Lord

There are other spiritual gifts which are listed in 1 Cor 12:4-11. They are part of Catholic tradition but they are used to edify the church and the upbuilding of others. Not all is given to an individual unlike the previous seven I listed. They are commonly known as charisms. They are:

1. Wisdom
2. Knowledge
3. Faith
   
4. Healing
5. Prophecy
6. Miracles
7. Speaking in tongues
8. Interpretation of tongues
9. Discernment of spirits

Sacrament of Confirmation

• Administered by a bishop
• Perceptible sign: Laying on of hands
• We are given an indelible sign that identifies us as soldiers of Chirst