As we progress into the New Year many of our chapels are preparing their young, and some not so young, for the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation. This and the lack of understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life which exists today gives opportunity for some thoughts on this sacrament.

The widespread ignorance of, and indifference to, the sacrament of Confirmation is itself an indictment of the vitality of Catholicism in our day. Confirmation, being the sacrament of the soldier of Christ, is tailored to produce apostolic fighters against the spirit of worldliness which Christ condemned so severely. Perhaps it is because Catholics have come to terms with worldliness that they have forgotten Christ’s promise of enmity with the world, and have thus ceased to fight; perhaps this explains why there are relatively few apostolic souls in our day. The last thing a slacker wants is a uniform. The last thing many Catholics seem to want is a summons to battle. Yet this is precisely what Confirmation is, and what our age needs.

Like the other sacraments, Confirmation belongs to the general class of things we know as signs. It is a symbol of our reception of spiritual strength, actually accomplished at the moment when the symbol is present. Confirmation is specifically different from the other sacraments in that it produces a special mode of sanctifying grace. These special sacramental graces are designed to enable the recipient to attain the end for which the sacrament was instituted. By the sacrament of Confirmation, spiritual infants become mature, and the simple citizens of Christ’s kingdom are marked as his soldiers. Thus this sacramental grace produces certain effects:

1. In recipients who place no obstacle to the reception of grace, there is a substantial and notable increase of sanctifying grace, of the infused moral and theological virtues, and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

2. The recipient is strengthened, by the special sacramental grace, to firmly and bravely live his faith in public before all men and to defend and fight for it when circumstances demand.

3. The recipient has the right throughout life to the actual graces necessary for this conflict, whenever occasions arise.

We see, through these effects, the divine intention to perfect the body of the Church by bringing its members to spiritual maturity, capable and ready to shoulder the responsibility of being a soldier of Christ in the world.

Too often the sacrament of Confirmation is viewed as a child’s toy; a present to be played with during childhood and then set aside and forgotten at the approach of maturity. But it is Confirmation that makes us spiritually mature. Thus the confirmed should have an awareness of the common good of the Mystical Body and not be self-centered like children. They should show signs of maturity by striving to bring to perfection the sacramental graces and by the willingness to accept responsibility for themselves and others. Apostolic action, which struggles to extend the work of Redemption into the world, and which is proportioned to their mature outlook and sense of responsibility, should characterize those confirmed.

Pope Pius XII once stated "Today more than ever and as in the first days of its existence, the Church’s need is above all for witnesses, even more than apologists; witnesses who, by the whole of their life, will make the true face of Christ and of the Church shine out in splendor in the eyes of a paganized world."

If true then more so now! How badly the Church today needs Catholics willing to stand up for their Faith, to fight for Our Lord and for souls! Let us be resolved to live as true soldiers of Our Lord Jesus Christ, asking for and taking advantage of the graces that are ours by the sacrament of Confirmation which we have received.

Fr. John D. Fullerton