Confirmation : the forgotten sacrament / by Ralph Fisher.


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CONFIRMATION
The Forgotten Sacrament

by Rev. Raiph Fisher, C.S.C.

AVE MARIA PRESS
Notre Dame, Indiana



NIHIL OBSTAT—John L. Reedy, G.S.C.
Censor Deputatus

IMPRIMATUR— Most Rev. Leo A. Pursley, D.D.
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend

March, 1961

All rights reserved. This pamphlet may not be
reproduced by any means in whole or in part

without prior permission.

Third Printing March, 1962

© 1961, Ave Maria Press



Not too long ago I talked to a young
lad — 17 years old —who had not yet
received the sacrament of Confirma-

tion. Twice he had been prepared to

receive it as a youngster. He had faith-
fully attended the catechism classes and

was all ready to be confirmed. Both
times, though, before the date sched-

uled for the Bishop’s coming his father
was transferred by the company that
employed him to another town. The
whole family moved with him, and so
Jim was never confirmed. After that
he had just forgotten about it, the way
so many of us do, even after we have
been confirmed.

You can’t call Penance or Holy Com-
munion forgotten sacraments. Most
Catholics receive these sacraments fair-
ly regularly, even frequently or daily.
Baptism and Extreme Unction stand
out in our minds because they’re the
first and last ones on the list. And
very few persons have to be reminded
that they have received either Holy
Orders or the sacrament of Matrimony.
Now Confirmation — that’s another
story. But why is it the forgotten sac-
rament?



Maybe it’s because we have too little
understanding of it, because we’re not

conscious of the practical implications

of the sacrament of Confirmation in

our day-to-day lives, because we’re just

vaguely aware of what we receive in
this sacrament and what responsibili-
ties it imposes on us.

We Have a Mandate

In any consideration of the sacra-
ments, Confirmation follows immediate-

ly after Baptism because these two
sacraments are very closely related. As
a matter of fact, Confirmation is really

the fulfillment — the completion — of
the sacrament of Baptism.

Sometimes we hear Confirmation de-
scribed as the sacrament of the Holy
Ghost. That’s true if you know just what
this means. It doesn’t imply that the

Holy Ghost doesn’t come to us in Bap-
tism also, because that would not be
true. The Holy Spirit comes to us in
both sacraments, but for a different

purpose.

In Baptism the Christian dies with
Christ and rises with Him to a new life,
the life of sanctifying grace. The effect

4



of this is to give him personal holiness
right here and now. Confirmation is

the logical complement of this sacra-

ment because it gives the Christian
social holiness and a corresponding so-

cial responsibility for the whole Mys-
tical Body. By it the Christian becomes
not only a beneficiary or fruit of

Christ’s mission to redeem all creation
for His Father, but he also receives a
share in this mission. More specifically,
through Confirmation each Christian
shares in the mandate Christ gave to
His Apostles just before His Ascension
into heaven: “Going, therefore, teach
ye all nations. . . .”

Courage for the Fearful

As a confirmed follower of Christ,
the Christian must now be concerned
about spreading Christ’s kingdom on
earth. And each one of us is obligated
to do this within the framework of our
particular vocation in life, whether as
priests or religious, as lay men or wo-
men. But this is a frightening respon-
sibility. Most of us hang back a little,
thinking that we will be happy if we
can just save our own souls and hope

5



that others will be able to do so also.

And that’s not to be wondered at. Fear
is natural in the face of such a gigantic

and awesome responsibility; that’s why
Christ left us the sacrament of Confir-

mation, to give us the courage and wis-

dom we need in spreading His kingdom.

The difference between the graces of
Baptism and Confirmation is seen dra-
matically in Scripture itself. After the

death of Christ, the Apostles were
shaken and frightened. They hid in the
upper room, the Gospel tells us, afraid

of the Jews. Surely they had been bap-
tized before this; but they hadn’t as yet

received the special coming of the Holy
Ghost, Whom Christ had promised He
would send.

Then came the feast of Pentecost
and with it the descent of the Holy
Ghost upon them in the form of tongues
of fire. What was the result? Filled
with courage and zeal, they immediate-
ly went out to preach Christ’s Gospel.
The Acts of the Apostles tell us that
when they were brought before the
Jewish high court and given 40 lashes,
they felt themselves lucky to be counted
worthy to suffer for Christ.

6



The Martyr’s Example

This wasn’t true only of the Apostles.

In the first 300 years of Christianity,

everyone who became a Christian knew
that he was courting death. Death
caught up with thousands and thou-
sands of them during the three cen-
turies of persecution the early Church
suffered under the Roman emperors.
The courage and steadfastness of these
martyrs astounded and infuriated their
pagan persecutors. How could these
Christians — even women and young
children — find the obstinate courage
to stand up to the emperor and defy
him in the face of threats and torture?
To the pagans it was a mystery, but

the Christians knew where such power
came from. It was the Holy Spirit
within them, strengthening and fortify-
ing them. That’s why the Church in
the Mass for a virgin martyr cries out,
“O God, one of the marvelous examples
of your power was granting the victory
of martyrdom even to delicate woman-
hood. . . .”

A few years ago a book appeared
which stunned the country. It was en-
titled In Every War But One

,

and de-

7



tailed the many examples of American
soldiers who collaborated with their
Communist captors in the Korean War.
It shocked us because we are accus-
tomed to think of soldiers as courag-

eous — American soldiers, especially.
And here was documentary proof that
many of our soldiers did not have the
necessary courage to overcome Chinese

wiles and tortures. We felt that they
had failed us, our traditions and our
ideals.

We’re Marked Men
Every catechism or book on the sac-

raments says that Confirmation makes
us soldiers of Christ. This is seen quite

clearly in the ceremony of the sacra-
ment. The Bishop traces the sign of the
cross on the forehead of the person be-
ing confirmed. The symbolism of this
action goes back to Roman days, when
it was customary for every soldier to
be tatooed with the name or sign of
the general in whose army he was serv-
ing. The sign of the cross traced upon
our foreheads is the symbol that we
have become soldiers in the army of
the crucified Christ. And this is not a
mere ritualistic gesture.

8



Confirmation is one of the sacra-

ments which print an indelible mark
on the soul of the one receiving it, a

mark that will remain as a badge of
glory or shame throughout all eternity,
depending on how faithfully we fulfill
our new responsibility. St. Thomas’
comment on this is: “A man receives
the Holy Spirit in Confirmation for the
courage necessary to the spiritual com-

bat, that he may courageously confess
the Faith of Christ, even against the

adversaries of the Faith. Hence it is
fitting that he be signed with the sign
of the cross on his forehead. As a sol-
dier is marked with the sign of his
leader, so the Christian is marked with
the sign of the cross. ... He is anointed
on the forehead, that he might openly
show himself to be a Christian, just as
the Apostles, after receiving the Holy
Spirit, manifested themselves, whereas
formerly they had hidden in the Cen-
acle.”

Persecution Faces Us

But this is not the only indication
that the confirmed Christian must be
willing to suffer — even die — if neces-

9



sary. As the Bishop confers the sacra-
ment, he gently strikes the cheek of

the one confirmed to remind him that

as the world hated and persecuted

Christ, so will it hate and persecute His

followers. Christ Himself warned us:

“If the world hates you, know that it
has hated Me before you. ... If they
have persecuted Me, they will persecute

you also. . . . Yes, the hour is coming

for everyone who kills you to think
that he is offering worship to God. And
these things they will do because they

have not known the Father nor Me.”

Persecution is no stranger to the
20th-century world. Thousands of
Christians in the captive countries to-

day— those behind the Iron and Bam-
boo Curtains — know what it means to
suffer for their Faith. Many have al-
ready tasted the blood of martyrdom,
and the others have to be prepared for
it daily. For them the graces of Con-
firmation are indeed real. But what
about us in our daily lives? Very few
of us are faced with the need to defend
our Faith with our lives. How, then,
can we give witness to it?
Today we must face the fact that we

10



live in a pagan world. The United
States is not a Catholic country. Most

of the people with whom we associate
in our daily lives are not —by and
large — living according to the ethics
and the moral teachings of Jesus Christ.

In fact, most of those who call them-
selves Christians guide their lives by
the erroneous principles so much in
vogue in the world today.

“Situational Morality”

I’ll give an example of what I mean
— a crude example, perhaps, yet one
which accounts for so much payola,
graft and all sorts of sinful chicanery
today.

What it comes down to is this: If I
enjoy something, want it and like it,
then it is good for me and I’m going
to go ahead and do it. Almighty God
has created me. He loves me, knows
my desires and wants me to be happy.
I know that there are certain acts
which He has forbidden to me; but,
after all, sin is in the intention, and I
have absolutely no intention of offend-
ing Almighty God. He can read my
heart, and He knows I don’t intend to

11



offend Him. I just want to do this be-

cause it seems to me enjoyable and for
my benefit. Therefore, I’ll go ahead
and do it, and for me it is not a sin
since I don’t intend to sin. And so
divorce, birth control, taking bribes or

padding expense accounts, petty thiev-

ery and a host of other sins are ration-

alized away. But there’s an error in
all this.

Suppose I come up to you with a
sharp razor in my hand and tell you
to relax. I don’t want to hurt you and
in no way mean to offend you, but I
have a little quirk in my personality.
I truly enjoy seeing blood flow; there-

fore, I’m going to open a vein in your
wrist. No offense intended!

I’m sure you would be offended and
do everything in the world to prevent
me from carrying out my intention.
But that’s the way we often act toward
God. We say we have no intention to
sin or offend Him, even though He has
by His laws told us that certain actions
do offend Him. But often the world
adjusts the law of God to suit its own
needs. This is done in the social world,
in the business world, in almost every

12



field of activity. We rationalize away
our faults. They are not sinful, so we
claim.

Can We Remake God?

One of our great Catholic authors,
Frangois Mauriac, once said that God
made man in His own image and like-
ness and that man has returned the
favor— a very good description of the
situational morality which guides so
much of the modem world. We decide
what God should be like and act ac-
cordingly, rather than try to find out
what God really is like and adjust our-
selves to Him.

Just look around you and see how
many of your friends, both Catholic
and non-Catholic —maybe even you
yourself— guide their lives by the
thinking described above. It’s tough to
rub elbows with them day in and day
out and still maintain our Faith, prac-
ticing it the way Christ demands of
us. We have to have supernatural help
to do it, and we get that help in the
sacrament of Confirmation.
But let’s take a closer look at some

of the ways in which this help comes

13



to us and how it should influence us in
our daily lives. Let’s look at the seven

gifts of the Holy Spirit. It’s true that

they come to us originally in Baptism,
but in Confirmation they are tremen-

dously increased in our souls.

Wisdom

The first gift we call wisdom. It
can be defined as a sensitivity to God’s

revelations concerning Himself and our

duties to Him. This deepens immensely
our attitude and dependence upon God
every time we adore Him in the Sacri-
fice of the Mass. Further, it should be

the springboard for our zeal for the

salvation of the souls of others. For
when we fully realize how much God
loves us, we want others to know how
much He loves them, too. And we can’t
help realizing that God wants all men
to love and worship Him without being
eager to win them for Him.

It was because St. John Bosco was
so filled with this gift of wisdom that
he could say, “Give me souls, you can
have everything else.” He wanted to
bring God to them and them to God.

14



Knowledge

Knowledge is the second gift of the

Holy Ghost, and it is the perception of

the essentially relative and perishable

nature of earthly goods. Suppose you

work in a factory which makes clothes.

You see everyone else there making
off with articles of clothing quite fre-

quently. It would be easy for you to

do likewise; but if you really have the

gift of knowledge and follow its in-

spirations, you won’t. After all, what’s

a new jacket, pair of trousers or sports
coat compared to the love of God?
These things will all pass away.

Or take the question of support for
your church or the foreign missions.

Naturally, you won’t exactly want to
part with your $10 bill with its picture
of Alexander Hamilton, even though
the missionary’s tale of need does touch
you deeply. But if you have the reali-
zation that money is really quite insig-
nificant in comparison with the work
of winning souls for Christ you will be
able to give generously. And if you are
really generous you might want to give
two or three years of your own life to
this work as a lay missionary rather

15



than starting right in after college to

build yourself some security and a place
in society.

Counsel

The third gift is counsel

,

the facility

to decide God’s will in a particular in-

stance or set of circumstances. Maybe
it’s a question of the vocation to which

God is calling you. Or maybe you’ve
fallen romantically in love with a non-

Catholic, and then realize the dangers
of the situation in your case. So you
know through the gift of counsel that
you have to fall back out of love again.
There are 1,000 examples of how the
gift of counsel is needed in the various
works of Catholic action.

Understanding

Understanding— the fourth gift —
is an ease in accepting all the truths
revealed to men by God, despite the
mysteries they involve. And I think
that it’s easy to give an example of this.
Almost every Sunday I say Mass in a
parish church. As I pass up and down
the Communion rail, distributing the
Lord’s Body and Blood to hundreds of

16



people each Sunday, I can’t help but

be struck by their faith. There is no

reasonable, logical explanation of the

miracle of the Eucharist on strictly

natural grounds. It demands faith to
accept this teaching of Christ. It is

truly a mystery, but one which every

Catholic holds firmly, enlightened by
the gift of understanding.

As St. Thomas Aquinas put it, speak-
ing of faith in the Holy Eucharist, “Not

to sight, or taste, or touch be credit,

Hearing only do we trust secure; I be-
lieve, for God the Son has said it —
Word of truth that ever shall endure.”

Piety

And fifth in the list of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit comes piety, an apti-
tude for prayer. In this instance we can
recall St. Benedict’s advice to his monks
when they complained that their work
was keeping them away from prayer.
Don’t forget, he told them, that work
is prayer when you do everything for
God’s greater honor and glory. We can
turn that around and truthfully say
that prayer is work. Most of us don’t

17



find it easy to be regular in our prayers,

to kneel down and pray when we don’t
feel like it; but we realize that we
should pray. Think of the millions and

millions of families that daily pray the

family rosary. Think of the millions

who devote an hour a week or a month
to nocturnal adoration of the Blessed

Sacrament in their parish church. Sure-

ly, they do this only because they are

hearkening to the inspirations the Holy

Ghost sends them through the gift of
piety.

Fortitude

The sixth gift is fortitude

,

a readi-

ness to endure the privations and sacri-
fices which a life of virtue inevitably
entails. I think all of us already know
what this means. We find it mighty
hard to stick close to God day after day,
to ignore the example of the pagan
world around us, to overcome the temp-
tations that come to us on every side,
and especially those that rise from the
murky corners of our own personalities
and temperaments. It takes courage to
live as Christ wants us to, but the gift
of fortitude will help us do it.

18



Fear of the Lord

Then, last of the seven comes the

gift of fear of the Lord. And what do
we mean by this? It is not fear in the
sense that a student who hasn’t studied
is afraid he is going to fail his final

exams. Or in the sense that a criminal
is afraid the police are going to catch

up with him. No, it’s a deeper and
better fear than that. It’s the fear of the

young man or woman who loves his or
her parents so much, respects them so
much, that he or she doesn’t want to
do anything that will hurt them, that
will make them regret the confidence
they have placed in their son or daugh-
ter.

It’s a fear that comes from love and
respect. It makes us stop and measure
our actions against what we know a
loving God expects of us. Because we
love Him, we want very much to do
what He wants us to do and are always
wary lest we fail Him in some way or
other.

Who’s at Fault?

But if we are supposed to receive
these gifts of the Holy Ghost in Con-

19



firmation—and we’ve already been con-
firmed—why don’t we feel their influ-
ence more in our daily lives? Probably
it’s our own fault.

God doesn’t force anyone, and His
gifts are not going to change our lives

unless we want them to and co-operate
with them. There is a saying among
theologians, handed down through the
centuries, that grace doesn’t destroy na-

ture but builds upon it. And if we ex-
pect God’s gifts to make themselves felt
in our lives we have to do something to
prepare ourselves for them so that they
can work in us. To put it bluntly, we
have to work a little more and pray
a little more. At least, most of us should.

The Holy Spirit works in our souls
through inspirations. And I’m afraid
many Catholics wouldn’t recognize an
inspiration of the Holy Ghost if it
walked in on them in red flannels.

Almost every prayer addressed to
the Holy Spirit asks for His direct help
in living our Faith as we should. One
that comes to mind right now begins,
“May my understanding be submissive
to Your inspirations and to the teach-
ings of the Holy Catholic Church.” Now

20



it doesn’t make sense to pray that our
understanding blindly be submissive to

the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and

the teachings of the Church unless we
have a pretty good idea of what the
Church teaches. And too many of us
know only quite vaguely some of the
most important doctrinal and moral

teachings of the Catholic Church.

Oh, Those Long Sermons!

But isn’t that what the Sunday ser-
mons are for—to instruct us in the
teachings of the Church and in our
moral obligations? Don’t they suffice?

No! If we really want to be honest
with ourselves, we can’t claim that we
get all the instruction and exhortation
necessary from the pulpits of our parish
churches. Maybe if our pastors dared to
preach long enough these lessons would
suffice. But because we get restless in
church, because they worry about park-
ing problems and getting one group out
of church and another in for the next
Mass, our pastors seldom preach ser-
mons longer than about seven or eight
minutes. And that is not enough.

21



In the Acts of the Apostles, we
read that St. Paul once kept his hearers

from evening until the next morning
while he preached to them. But not even
St. Paul could get away with it without
trouble. St. Luke tells us: “A young
man named Eutychus, who was sitting
at the window, was overcome with
drowsiness, and, as Paul addressed them
at great length, he went fast asleep and
fell down from the third story to the
ground and was picked up dead” (Acts
20:9).

There aren’t many fellows around
today with the name Eutychus; but
pastors know that many a Tom, Dick
and Harry would have nervous prostra-
tion if the sermon lasted more than 15
minutes at most. For St. Paul there was
no problem; he raised the lad back to
life again. But most priests today don’t
count on miracles to repair the physical
damages their sermons might give rise
to.

So our sermons, while necessary and
helpful, are not of themselves sufficient.

We need something more. And we can
get it with a minimum of effort.

22



What? Read 30 Books?

In this country, in this day and age,

the easiest way of becoming acquainted
with the teachings of the Church and
with the possible development of the

supernatural life we lead is through
spiritual reading. The average spiritual
book is seven to 10 chapters long. The
average reader can get through a chap-

ter in about 15 minutes. That means
that if every Catholic were to spend 15
minutes a day doing spiritual reading,
he would read easily 30 books a year.
And at the end of the year he would
know much more about the teachings of
the Church than when he began and
would, I prophesy, be considerably ho-

lier.

Such a person would really be pray-
ing when he uttered the words, “Make
my understanding submissive to the
inspirations of the Holy Spirit.” And
unless you’re willing to do a little bit of
work to prepare yourself for the in-
spiration of the Holy Ghost, it might be
better not to say such prayers. And if
you’re willing to do this extra work, it’s
pretty safe to say that you’ll be doing a
little more praying, too.

23



Are All Sacraments Equal?

Not all the sacraments are of equal
importance. Certainly, the Holy Eu-
charist is the most important of all
since in it we come into contact not
only with grace, but with Christ Him-
self directly. The other sacraments vary
in importance according to particular

situations and circumstances.
Suppose you were in a terrible ac-

cident while in the state of mortal sin.

If someone were to approach you as
you lay dying alongside the highway
and ask you which sacrament you were
most interested in receiving right then,
you would emphatically and rightly an-
swer Penance. “Get me a priest, I want
to go to confession!”

20th-Century Saints

As has been said so many times be-
fore, the world in which we live today
is not a Christian world. It’s hard, even
for those who are sincerely trying, to
lead a life which is pleasing to God. It’s
a world which cries out for saints

—

heroes in every walk of life who are
willing to witness to their faith in

Christ by their lives and to work for

24



the spread of His kingdom. As Pius XI
said, “Let us thank God that He makes
us live among the present problems. . . .
It is no longer permitted to anyone to

be mediocre.” And it is because of the
particular age in which we live that the
sacrament of Confirmation assumes so

much importance in the life of the
Christian today.

By it he is given a social holiness
in addition to the personal holiness he

received in Baptism. He is given a man-
date to share in the very work of Christ
Himself, to bring God to men and men
to God. “Going, therefore, teach ye all

nations whatsoever I have commanded
you. . . It gives him an official ca-
pacity in the social life of the Church.

He has now the duty to participate in
the external mission of the Church, to
give of his time and talents in order
that the society of which he is a mem-
ber will become a place in which it is
easier for its members to be brought
to God.

While St. Pius X was Pope, he once
asked his Cardinal-advisers what they
thought was the greatest need of the
Church in the 20th century. More

25



churches, more priests, more semi-
naries, more schools—these were the
answers they gave him. To all of these
suggestions St. Pius X said no. What
the Church needs most of all in our
day, he told them, is a group of apostolic

laymen in every parish.

“Spread the Faith!”

“Keep the Faith” has been the
watchword of the Church in America
far too long. It should be “Spread the

Faith.” A man cannot really be an
apostle or a witness to Christ unless he

has first achieved some depth of holi-
ness in his personal life. But a Catholic
cannot be content to strive only for

personal sanctity when the society in
which he lives is a pagan one. And what
else can we call our society today?

We’re faced with a litany of prob-
lems both within our country and across
the world. And the really critical prob-
lems of our day remain largely un-
touched by the influence of Catholics.
Racial discrimination and segregation,
civil rights, labor-management team-
work, migrant workers, secularized edu-
cation, pornography, high health costs,

26



corrupt politics, the population problem

—all of these areas are crying out for
a Christian solution. But have we given
it?

Pope Pius XII spoke to more people
than any other Pope in history, and the
constant theme of his message to Cath-
olics was that they should make their
lives more truly Catholic—that they
should use the graces Confirmation had
given them. He urged them to view
their work-life, their professional ca-

reers, their political opportunities as

providential areas in which they could
bear witness to Christ and make His
teachings effective.

“Yes, bearers of life,” he told them,
“penetrate into every place, into fac-

tories, offices, fields, wherever Christ
has the right to enter. . . . Make your-
selves felt, use your rights and inner
riches, in legislation and administration,
in marriage and the family, in educa-
tion and in schools, in the saving of the
workers from the danger of falling into
atheistic materialism.”

Christ once told His Apostles that
the harvest was great but the laborers
were few. If we are to Christianize the

27



world we live in, there is plenty of work
to go around. There is a man-sized job
for every adult Christian. And through
the sacrament of Confirmation each of

us has received both the commission

to take up the work and the assurance
of all the grace we need to do our share.

A Saint? Who, Me?
Confirmation might very aptly be

called the call to action for the 20th-

century Catholic, the sacrament of
challenge — a challenge we too often
forget.

Most Catholics very realistically do
not view themselves as saints. And as
they examine their consciences, they do
not even believe that they have within
themselves the raw material to become
saints. Yes, they want to get inside the
doors of heaven and hope to achieve
this. But more? Somehow they just
don’t believe they’re cut out for it. But
let’s face it, heaven is open only to
saints; if we want to get in we have to
want to become saints.

Every time we recite the Apostles’
Creed we say: “I believe in the Holy
Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the

28



communion of saints

,

. . . and life ever-

lasting. Amen.”
But what does this phrase mean, the

communion of saints? As Catholics we
believe in it, so we should learn what it
means if we do not already know. The
communion of saints refers to the unity
the Church on earth shares with the
Church in purgatory and in heaven.
And we have that unity because we are
all one in Christ and in the life of sanc-
tifying grace He has won for us. We,
as much as the souls in purgatory or in
heaven, merit to be called saints not

because of our own deeds but because
as long as we are in the state of grace
we really are holy with the holiness of
Christ Himself.

Baptism: the Beginning

I don’t know if Christians of all ages
have been so afflicted, but I think that
most of us Catholics today suffer from
the disease of pessimism—from an in-
feriority complex. We rejoice fittingly,
although sometimes gushingly, at the
Baptism of an infant. But too often then
a note of wistfulness creeps in.

We know that the infant’s soul,

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laved in the blood of Christ through

Baptism, glows with the new life of
sanctifying grace. But then we project
into the future, thinking of the sins that

quite possibly will one day corrupt the
life of grace in this soul. And we are
sad. But there’s another point of view,
too.

Baptism isn’t the perfection of the
Christian life; it’s only the beginning.

Rather than thinking of the future in
terms of the corrosion and degradation
that sin will bring, we should think of
it in terms of the full, noble growth of
grace within the soul that will bring

this person to the fullness of sanctity

destined for him by almighty God. What
we need is a little Christian optimism.

The baptized infant belongs to the
family of God supernaturally just about
the same way he belongs naturally to
the family of his parents and brothers
and sisters. He shares their lifeblood
and is theirs but really hasn’t done any-
thing other than be bom. Later on, as
he develops and matures, he will be-
come the son whose accomplishments
his parents can be proud of, the brother
his siblings will learn to love for his

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goodness. His future is bright with

promise.

Confirmation: Call to Action

And that holds true in the super-
natural order also. At Baptism our life
is just beginning; the future of our su-

pernatural life shines brightly. God, like

our parents, has given us a new life,
but as yet we haven’t returned any-
thing. So too, God, like our parents, has

a right to expect great things from us.
Maybe it’s this last point that really

marks the biggest divergence between
God’s thinking and our own. God can
see us as saints; we can’t see ourselves
as such. We just don’t have enough
faith to believe that the merits of

Christ’s Passion and Death are quite
enough to make saints out of such un-
likely material as we know we are. May-
be that’s the hardest act of faith that

God asks us to make.

We spoke of Confirmation as a call
to action, a challenge—and it is just
that. The world needs saints today, and
God needs saints today to Christianize
a world which increasingly ignores Him.
We can, we must become those saints.

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To us alone this would be impossible,
but we’re not alone; God is with us. The
graces He gives us through the sacra-
ment of Confirmation will give us the
strength to achieve the deeds He fore-
saw for us on the day we were baptized
—the deeds of His saints.

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