Sacramentum Confirmationis

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Yesterday evening at the Vigil Mass for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time at Our Lady of Grace, Father Kirby gave a homily on the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Scripture Readings included the following:

• The Promise of Salvation Under a New Davidic King: Isaiah 8:23-9:3
• Triumphant Song of Confidence: Psalm 27:1-14
• Divisions in the Church: 1st Corinthians 1:10-17
• The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry: Matthew 4:12-23

Verses 18 to 23 of today's Gospel reading record the calling of the first disciples:

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

There must have been great surprise here. Jesus simply says, "Come after me..." Without hesitation Peter and Andrew, then James and John left everything else to go. The Lord says the same to us. We must leave everything behind to follow Him. All else is secondary. In order to succeed in doing that, we have the Sacraments, and of particular note are the first two Sacraments of Initiation:

• Baptism: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
• Confirmation: Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." CCC 1285

Sts. Paul and Timothy

Confirmation completes baptism through the descent of the Holy Spirit on the baptized believer. Indeed, in 2nd Timothy 1:6-7 St. Paul chastises St. Timothy with these words:

Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

In Confirmation we receive the fire of the Holy Spirit. And as Romans 8:11 promises:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Our desire and yearning should therefore be for this indwelling of the Holy Spirit, an example of which is provided by the following story. There was once a young boy who was about to be Confirmed. He had a younger sister. Throughout their lives what one child was given would be balanced with a gift for the other child. Each child was treated equally and fairly. No one received anything that the other did not receive similarly. So when the younger sister learned that her older brother was soon to receive the Holy Spirit, she too expected the same. Her parents explained to her that she was not yet of the age required for Confirmation. She questioned more and received the same response. At the unfairness of it all she screamed and fell to the floor, wiggling about, having a fit, exclaiming, "But I want the Holy Spirit too!" What a fine Pentecostal she made! Such should ever be our desire and yearning for God's Spirit.

Today's Ruins at Ephesus

Acts 19-1-6 tells an interesting story about St. Paul's first visit to the Church at Ephesus:

While Apol′los was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all.

The faithful at Ephesus had been baptized, but they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. By the imposition of the hands of St. Paul, the Sacrament of Confirmation was therefore administered to them.

Now how shall the world know that We carry the Holy Spirit? St. Paul tells the Church at Galatia how in Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.

If we bear this fruit, then we have the Holy Spirit. The means by which St. Paul on his initial visit to Ephesus questioned the Ephesians on whether or not they had received the Holy Spirit upon first believing is likely because he did not see the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. So then we must ask ourselves whether or not people around us see the fruit of God's Spirit in us. The unbeliever naturally doubts God's presence in our lives, and thus we must die daily to ourselves. As Galatians 5:24 states:

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In this way the world will know that the Holy Spirit has come.