The Importance Of Confirmation

1601 Words4 Pages

Confirmation is is one of the three Sacraments of Christian Initiation. The other two sacraments of Christian Initiation are Baptism and the Eucharist. Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism through the outpouring of the gifts of Holy Spirit. Confirmation is a rite of initiation of not only Catholicism, but other Christian denominations too. Confirmation 's roots can be found in the New Testament, it is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and its practice has not derived much from the Early Church practice. The origin of the Sacrament of Confirmation is found in the New Testament. There are many different books and chapters in the New Testament that talk about Confirmation. For example, in the Gospel of John 14:15-26, Jesus talks to …show more content…

The Catechism states that Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace. Confirmation roots us more deeply in the divine feeling which makes us call, "Abba" or "Father." Confirmation also unites us more firmly to Jesus, it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in people, and it renders a person 's bond with the Church more perfect. Furthermore, the sacrament of Confirmation gives a person special strength of the Holy Spirit that allows a person to preach about the Good News and to defend his faith. A person with the power of the Holy Spirit can confess to the name of Jesus and the person will never be ashamed of the Cross. Confirmation can only be received once, just like Baptism because it leaves a mark that can never be erased (Catholic Church 1302-1305). In the Latin Church only the bishop can perform the Sacrament of Confirmation. Having bishops be the only ones able to perform the sacrament highlights the connection of Confirmation with its apostolic origins. The bishop is a sign that the Church is unified, universal, and apostolic. Every bishop has been ordained by another bishop who was also ordained by a bishop. The line of the bishops can be traced back to the Apostles which is called Apostolic Succession. It is handed down through the laying of the hands in Holy Orders. Confirmation deepens a person 's grace from the outpouring of …show more content…

Many people do not understand the meaning of Confirmation and the reason why a person might want to receive it. Baptism and Eucharist are more important than Confirmation and if a person had a choice whether to receive those two sacraments or Confirmation, many people would choose to be baptized and to receive the Eucharist. Baptism grants a person membership into the Church and the Eucharist nourishes a person with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Confirmation is just a last step that not every person necessarily needs to receive in his life. Furthermore, many high schoolers do not want to receive Confirmation because they do not want to attend the classes. The requirements to receive Confirmation are ridiculous. Students are only allowed to miss about two to three meetings a year and they are never allowed to miss a retreat. Students have to go to classes once a week for two years, even if they go to a Catholic school. If a person misses just one retreat and he is a month away from being confirmed, the people who run the classes can say that the student will have to repeat the year of classes. This is baffling because why does it matter if he misses one thing if he went to all the others. There are multiple people that are not able to attend these classes because most students have busy schedules. So even if a person with a busy schedule wants to receive Confirmation, they have to

Open Document