Confirmation

“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17, NAB).

The model for Confirmation is Pentecost. Jesus chose Twelve Apostles and commissioned them to carry on His work after His death and resurrection. Nonetheless, even after the Apostles had been thoroughly convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead, they remained ill equipped to carry on His work.

The Apostles had two great problems:

• They did not know how to fulfill the mandate to “make disciples of all the nations” and
• Even if they had known what to do, they were afraid to do it – in fear for their own lives, they locked themselves in the upper room.

The situation was transformed by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit was heard as a rushing wind and seen as tongues of fire. Once He had come upon the Apostles, they opened the doors, went out into Jerusalem and preached Jesus Christ with words that were miraculously understood by Jews from all over the world in their own languages.  From the beginning of the Church, the Apostles shared the gift of the Holy Spirit with those who had been baptized by the laying on of hands.  Confirmation is the completion of baptismal grace. It connects the person more closely to Christ, the Church, and its mission. Confirmation also enriches the person with a special strength of the Holy Spirit and increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit to those who receive it.

High school students in our religious education program are confirmed in 10th grade. Confirmation is scheduled for our Parish and may include neighboring churches from other parishes.  The Confirmation Mass is led by the Bishop or his designee on a date and time determined by the Diocese.

Adults who are baptized and would like to be confirmed are invited to participate in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and should contact the our DRE-Dede Van Loenen. Their confirmation occurs at the Easter Vigil.