Words from Our Pastor - 40 Hours Devotion Confirmation

Saint Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church

Upper Uwchlan Township, PA

Forty Hours Devotions: November 3-4-5, 2019

Monday Evening: Reflections on the Sacrament of Confirmation

[Readings: Romans 8:14-17, 26-27; Psalm 104; John 14:15-26]

Here we are on Day 2 of our Forty Hours Devotions: thanks to those of you who were here last night and came back! And welcome to those of you who are here for tonight: I hope you can all come tomorrow night for our closing Eucharistic Procession.

After reflecting upon the sacrament of Baptism last night, we look tonight at the second sacrament of Initiation: Confirmation. Admittedly over the centuries there have been many different understandings of this sacrament and how it is celebrated liturgically. In fact, as some of you are already aware, in the sacramental-liturgical tradition of the Eastern Christian churches, an infant receives both Baptism and Confirmation at the same time (and a small piece of the Eucharistic host as well!). In Western Christianity, these two sacraments have traditionally been celebrated separately, reflective of several scriptural passages in the letters of Saint Paul and in the Acts of the Apostles. This two-step encounter with the Holy Spirit remains in place in the Roman Rite even today.

Two years ago, after consultation with pastors and religious educators around the archdiocese, Archbishop Chaput directed that the minimal age for Confirmation be moved back from the more familiar fifth-sixth grade, to the seventh-eighth grade: a change that has cause quite a bit of consternation among parents here and elsewhere! Around the country, many dioceses celebrate Confirmation for eighth grade, tenth grade or even twelfth grade candidates. And some of us are old enough to remember being confirmed in third grade, with an eighth grade boy or girl randomly assigned by the school principal to serve as Confirmation sponsor.

So what’s all the fuss about the age of Confirmation anyway? The debate over the proper age for Confirmation is grounded in divergent understandings of what the sacrament is:

Some understand Confirmation as a sacrament of Christian maturity, in which the confirmed become adult members of the Church (akin to a Jewish Bar-Mitzvah). But this seems hardly applicable in a world of millennials where most agree that adolescence is often extended into one’s early thirties! We have many great middle school youths at Saint Elizabeth, but even the good kids are not yet mature young adults!

Others, also looking from the perspective of the recipients, envision Confirmation as a personal affirmation of one’s Baptismal faith, a kind of Catholic “born again experience.” Sad to say, if left to their own choosing rather than following their parents’ intentions, many of our seventh graders would not choose to be confirmed and are often not ready to make a personal faith commitment to anything at all, while they wrestle with doubts, questions and personal insecurities. A personal ratification of the faith shared with them at Baptism remains largely beyond their reach.

However, if we call to mind that Confirmation, like all the sacraments, is not primarily about the feelings and actions of the candidates themselves, but about what God desires to do in the life of the candidates, a very different understanding arises, rooted in the scriptures we heard tonight.

As recounted in John’s Gospel, at the Last Supper, Jesus promises his disciples that he will not leave them orphans, facing the demands of discipleship alone. No, he will send them an Advocate to be with them always. Jesus tells them: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit that comes upon us at Confirmation is the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus Himself!

In a similar manner, Saint Paul affirms that “the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ... This Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness and intercedes for the holy ones...” (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit brings us strength in the face of our personal weaknesses and limitations.

In other letters Paul identifies the many gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, as many of us had to memorize by heart as children. When we are confirmed, God enriches us with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live more fully as disciples of His Son Jesus Christ. It’s not primarily about what we do, but what God continues to do for us in fulfillment of His initial baptismal grace in our hearts. That’s Confirmation!

Later in the same Last Super discourse, Jesus tells the disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth” (John 16:12-13). I often have people tell me that what they want most of all is God’s specific game plan for their lives, to know the full script of their life story in advance, in a misguided effort to remove all uncertainty and insecurity from our daily lives. But as Jesus cautions us, you and I simply cannot absorb the fullness of truth all at once, not about ourselves nor about life itself. We need the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit to make known the path to eternal life day by day. The Holy Spirit works one day at a time, for that is all that we can take in, despite our longing for the whole picture all at once. So, to be led by the Spirit is to turn daily to God in prayer to shape and guide our decisions, one day at a time!

In the end, no matter at what age we are confirmed, we need the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit if we are to continue growing as a community of disciples with God at the center of our lives!

One final thought about Confirmation for your reflection tonight. For some reason, I still remember a saying from my high school German class: “Kleide macht dem Mensch!” or “Clothes make the man.”

While most of us have learned over the years not to judge people simply based upon what they are wearing (like the old proverb warns: “don’t judge a book by its cover”), there is something to be said for the liturgical custom of having candidates for Confirmation wear a white robe with the image of the Holy Spirit. The white garment associated with both Baptism and Confirmation reflects an image drawn from the Book of Revelation (Rev. 7:9-17), where the holy ones are clothed in white robes and gathered around the altar praising God.

In Baptism we are first clothed in the Holy Spirit and in Confirmation we are again clothed in the Holy Spirit to guide us on the journey of life as members of the community of disciples with God at the center of our lives, here and now, and in the end, forever in heaven.

Tomorrow night we will reflect upon the third sacrament of Initiation: the Holy Eucharist, and explore the daily bread God provides for us in the Holy Eucharist to nourish us along the way from here to eternity.