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"Sacrament of Confirmation: Consecrated for Mission" (USCCA, Chapter 16)
OPENING PRAYER
It helps now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
That is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
An opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the
Master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders.
Ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
Composed by Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw, Michigan (deceased)
"CONFIRMATION: CONSECRATED FOR MISSION"
—CCC, Nos. 1285–1321
Have you ever been called to publicly witness or confirm what you believe? Who or what empowered you to do this?
The reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of the graces received at
Baptism. Through Confirmation, baptized people are “more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched
with a special strength of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1285).
During Confirmation the baptized person is “sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit and is strengthened for
service to the Body of Christ.” This gift is conferred through the laying on of hands and anointing with holy
oil (called Chrism) on the forehead, ordinarily by the Bishop as a successor to the Apostles, while he proclaims the words “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
At Confirmation, the Holy Spirit bestows seven gifts—wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (see Isaiah 11:2-3), to empower us to witness to Christ in word and deed. Wisdom helps us to see people and things through God’s eyes. Understanding aids us to grasp the essence of the truths of faith. Knowledge helps us to know Jesus and to discern what is important and what is not. Counsel (right Judgment) helps us to make good choices consistent with God’s will. Fortitude (courage) helps us to face danger and overcome fear with confidence. Piety (reverence) helps us to experience our relationship with God, to act and strive to holiness in accord with this reality, and to show our gratitude through our worship, devotion, and respect. Through the gift of fear of the Lord we come to experience awe and wonder in God’s presence.
The effects of Confirmation bring an increase and deepening of our baptismal grace. It unites us more firmly to Christ, and deepens our relationship as daughters and sons of God. It increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us. It strengthens our bond with the Church.
The Holy Spirit strengthens us for ongoing service in the Body of Christ, the Church, and in the world. We
are actively involved with the Church in living, witnessing, proclaiming, and continuing Christ’s mission to promote and bring God’s reign of love, justice, peace, mercy, healing, forgiveness, and salvation in our time and place.
Like Baptism, Confirmation imprints an indelible character on the soul that “marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service forever” (CCC 1296). Therefore, one can receive this Sacrament only once in one’s life.
Please read this week
USCCA,Chapter 16, "Confirmation: Consecrated for Mission," (pages 201–211), the
CCC, Nos. 1285–1321, (pages 325–333),and the
Compendium, Nos. 265–270
OTHER RESOURCES
REFLECT ON YOUR EXPERIENCE
Which of the seven gifts do you need most in your life now?
How do you open yourself up to experience these gifts and to use them in your daily life?
We encourage and invite you to spend time to reflect, pray, and write in your journal about what you have read, seen, heard, or experienced this week. You can find some questions you may wish to consider here.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, in now, and ever shall be.
Amen.