205 IN CONFIRMATION GOD SAYS, "YES, I BELIEVE IN YOU, TOO."

YOUCAT Lesson 205

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

205  What happens in Confirmation?

In Confirmation the soul of a baptized Christian is imprinted with a permanent seal that can be received only once and marks this individual forever as a Christian.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is the strength from above in which this individual puts the grace of his Baptism into practice through his life and acts as a “witness” for Christ. [1302-1305, 1317]

Photo: …..My confirmed son, Don C. Bragg, in his turn gives witness for Christ to my grandson Stephen as happens through all generations. …..205

To be confirmed means to make a “covenant” with God.  The confirmand says, “Yes, I believe in you, my God; give me your Holy Spirit, so that I might belong entirely to you and never be separated from you and may witness to you throughout my whole life, body and soul, in my words and deeds, on good days and bad.”  And God says, “Yes, I believe in you, too, my child—and I will give you my Spirit, my very self.  I will belong entirely to you.  I will never separate myself from you, in this life or eternally in the next.  I will be in your body and your soul, in your words and deeds.  Even if you forget me, I will still be there—on good days and bad”.  120

“It is part of your vocation to shout the Gospel from the rooftops, not by your words, but by your life.”  Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.  Psalm 51:12

I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.  Deuteronomy 30:19

THE EFFECTS OF CONFIRMATION

…….1302   It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1303   From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: 
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";(Romans 8:15)¹¹⁷ 
- 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 perfect;(compare Lumen Gentium 11)¹¹⁸ 
- 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(compare Council Of Florence (1439): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1319; Lumen Gentium 11; LG 12)¹¹⁹

Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts.( St. Ambrose, De myst. 7,42:Patrologia Latina 16,402-403)¹²⁰ –CCC

….1304   Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character," which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.(compare Council Of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1609; Luke 24:48-49)¹²¹ –CCC

…….1305   This "character" perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and "the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in Christ publicly and as it were officially (quasi Ex officio)."(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III,72,5, ad 2)¹²² –CCC

IN BRIEF

…….1317   Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one's life. --CCC