Acts 2:1-41
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance....
• The Apostles are transformed and empowered.
• Birth of the Church and her sacramental life.
• Confirmation—our own personal Pentecost.
1. Wisdom
2. Understanding
3. Counsel
4. Fortitude
5. Knowledge
6. Piety
7. Fear of the Lord
Fear of the Lord
• Helps us to see God in the fullness and wonder that he is.
• It inspires us to acknowledge him as God of all.
• Helps us recognize God's will by under- standing that God holds the key to eternal life. This is the beginning step on our relationship to peace with God.
• This leads to...
Piety
• Helps us to honor and worship God as we should and to see him as our Father.
• The gift of devotion to the Lord helps us learn obedience to Christ by learning about Him through the Scriptures.
• This helps us to be meek, which is the loss of resentment towards people.
• Once we control our anger, we are open to see each other and God clearly.
• This leads to...
Knowledge
• Helps us to know all things in the light of God and his plan.
• Leads us to be confronted with the fact that God is to be loved for Himself, neighbors are to be loved because of God, and that our love for God involves everything, our heart, mind and soul.
• This leads to...
Fortitude
• Helps us to be strong in our faith, even when it is very hard to do so.
• This gift can be seen especially in martyrs.
• Keeps us strong, away from despair and focused on eternity.
• When difficulties hit, and the feeling of love fades, it helps us to stay strong.
• This leads to...
Counsel
• Helps us to make right decisions about our lives.
• Through this gift, we discover our faults and where we need correction.
• But the gift of Counsel is always rooted in God's mercy and compassion.
• Thus, it helps us to be merciful to others.
• This leads to...
Understanding
• Helps us to understand the mysteries of our faith and to share them with others.
• It is the understanding of the heart—that area known only to God and me.
• Understanding cleanses the heart to prefer the Truth to everything, and leads us to love that which we thought was unlovable, including our enemies.
• This leads us to...
Wisdom
• Helps us to know about the things of God and to set our hearts on them.
• The final stage of our growth in faith.
• Here, we live a life that pleases God alone and are able to enjoy His peace here on earth and into eternity.
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Love - often called charity—the love of God and of others.
Joy - happiness in living out our lives in Christ.
Peace - inner calm and confidence in God even in outward storms.
Patience - willingness to bear the faults of others.
Kindness - concern for the needs of others.
Goodness - living according to God's laws.
Faithfulness - loyalty to God, to our Church and to those toward whom we bear responsibility.
Gentleness - dealing with ourselves, and others, in a mild and concerned manner.
Self-control - proper balance in our lives, and the ability to say no to ourselves when necessary.
Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded.... 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
• 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;
• 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.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7)
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)
"Sacrament of Christian maturity"
• It is a free, unmerited grace which does not need to be "ratified" by our choice.
• Nevertheless, it is customarily delayed to allow for a choice of free will and mature faith.
• Still, one does not have to be advanced in years to be advanced in faith!
• Any baptized Christian who has not already been confirmed.
• Must be practicing the Faith and willing to accept the responsibilities of Confirmation.
• Normally must complete a course of study and go to confession in preparation for the Sacrament.
• Must have a Sponsor who is a confirmed Catholic in good standing (preferably a godparent).
Form: imposition of hands, signing of the cross on the forehead with Chrism and the words, "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit."
Matter: Holy Chrism (a mixture of olive oil and balsam, blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass).
Minister: the Bishop or a priest delegated by him.
The Character and Obligations of Confirmation
• Character = an indelible spiritual mark.
• "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." —CCC 1304
• "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." —CCC 1305
Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." —Matthew 28:18-20