February 21, 2021

Last Sunday and this Sunday our 8th grade parishioners have received or will be receiving the sacrament of Confirmation.  This sacrament is one of the Sacraments of Initiation; once received, these young men and women become fully initiated members of the Catholic Church.   

To help understand this sacrament, we should make some distinctions between Baptism and Confirmation.  Baptism makes us sons and daughters of God the Father and allows us to participate in the saving effects of the Paschal Mystery (Christ’s Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension). The sacrament of Confirmation relies on Pentecost and so bestows the Holy Spirit upon the recipient.  Just like Christ had to ascend to the Father before the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church at Pentecost, so do we need to receive Baptism before we can receive the Holy Spirit in Confirmation.  Do you see the distinction?  Baptism makes us disciples, Confirmation makes us full fledged members of the Church, not adults in the Church, but fully initiated members.   

As said above, Confirmation bestows the Holy Spirit upon the recipient – specifically the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom, Prudence, Piety, Courage, and Fear of the Lord. These gifts are given so that the disciple has the grace necessary to witness to the Gospel, the universal call of all members of the Church. Both Luke 24 and Acts 1 indicate that the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon the Apostles and the other disciples so that they can witness to Christ’s saving work (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8). In other words, the Gift of the Holy Spirit is given for us to preach and evangelize!  God gives us the gifts necessary to do these things, but do we confirmed disciples rely on and use them?  Think about Pentecost…  The Apostles and some other disciples including Mary, were in hiding for fear of persecution, but once the Holy Spirit came upon them, they had the gifts necessary to preach with great courage and clarity.  Once again I ask: do we rely on the Gift of the Holy Spirit as much as we need to? 

Confirmation this year was a unique experience for many reasons.  The first and most obvious reason is because of the pandemic. Normally, we would go to the Cathedral, for one night, and the Archbishop would do the confirming. This year we had Confirmation in the parish, spread over two weekends and the priests of the parish did the confirming.  This may raise the question: but isn’t the Bishop supposed to do the confirmation?  Yes, he is.  However, all priests have the power to confirm, but only have the authority (or faculties) when granted by the law of the Church or by the Bishop himself.  This year Fr. Marc and I were granted the faculties to Confirm the eighth graders of this Parish, which makes the sacrament valid and licit.  This means that for the first time, I had the opportunity to confirm 34 of our parishioners, and I must tell you: IT. WAS. AWESOME!

Please pray for our newly confirmed and those who will be receiving confirmation this weekend.  And pray for our RCIA candidates and catechumens; they begin the formal process of coming into the Church this weekend.  Finally, pray for all fully initiated members of the Church, that they may rely more on the gifts and graces received in the Sacraments.

May God bless you all and have a blessed Lent!

In Christ,

Fr. Matthew Capadano