Confirmation
Last week at the Easter Vigil, our parish welcomed nine new people fully into the Church, and this coming Wednesday, Bishop Dell’Oro will celebrate the confirmation of twenty-eight St. Rose of Lima teenagers: two truly great things for all of us to be thankful!
As most of us learned in CCE or RCIA, out of the Church’s seven sacraments, three of them mark the recipient with a permanent seal – a character – that can never be undone. These three sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. Seeing how our parish has a total of 37 folks that have decided they want to be Catholic, I found myself thinking about this sacrament in the past few weeks, so I thought I’d remind us just what this sacrament is all about. Finally, in looking at Confirmation, I also thought I would next write on one of the gifts that is given to the confirmed by the Holy Spirit in this sacrament, the gift of fortitude.
Confirmation: Along with connecting and deepening one’s baptismal grace, Confirmation deepens one’s relationship with God, brings one closer to Christ, increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit within one, unites one closer to the Church and, “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.” (CCC, 1303) The Child of God, first sealed in Baptism, and having now being anointed with their bishop’s hand being laid upon them, is now sealed in Confirmation by the Holy Spirit with a character to assist and help them to publicly live out their faith. It is both a gift to the confirmed and to the Church, and by being confirmed this child of God receives the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, so they can then go and live out their faith. These seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, fear of the Lord, and piety.
Fortitude: On fortitude, Pope John Paul II said, “The gift of the Spirit obliges us to bear witness to Jesus Christ and to God the Father and ensures that we have the ability and courage to do so.” The courage to do so; the strength to do so. Fortitude means bravery or courage. Christians need strength to persevere, and this gift of fortitude from the Holy Spirit gives us that strength. With Confirmation, Confirmare in Latin, Catholics are strengthened; firmare, in Latin means to make strong, so Confirmation, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in particular the gift of fortitude strengthens one’s walk with Jesus Christ and in their participation with the Church in the evangelization of our faith.
For some of us, having courage in today’s times may seem difficult, or we may even be afraid to speak out, to share, to evangelize our faith. With all the news, trials, and quite frankly evil, that has been exposed of and in our Church these past years, both internally and externally it can be disheartening, and for some, can make it more difficult to say why we are Catholic; to defend our faith. I recall something Bishop Robert Barron once said when addressing the Church’s abuse scandal. He said we are not Catholics because of the moral leadership or lack of moral leadership with some of the clergy in our church, but rather he said:
We’re Catholics because of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.
We’re Catholics because of the Trinitarian love of God.
We’re Catholics because of the Mystical Body of Christ.
We’re Catholics because of the Sacraments.
We’re Catholics especially because of the Eucharist.
We’re Catholics because of the Blessed Mother.
We’re Catholics because of the Saints.
So I come back to Confirmation and the gift of fortitude; that this gift of fortitude resides in each one of us; that this fortitude can help us in defending our faith; that the Holy Spirit resides in each of us and connects all of us. That we too turn to Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and the saints for strength.
Think back to your Confirmation. Think of the saint you chose and why you chose that saint; take some time to reflect on that and to reflect on just why you are Catholic. And always remember you are a child of God. Know that you have been given these gifts. Be not afraid!
Deacon David Dufilho