Confirmation In The Catholic Church

The seven formal sacraments play a major role in religion, each have their own divine meaning that was set forth by the Lord. Confirmation is the sacrament in which one seals Baptism, where one is given the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. This is when you make a choice as a follower of God to live your life as a Christian, and to wholeheartedly accept Jesus Christ into your heart. The history of confirmation in the Catholic Church goes back to the Middle Ages. It became the practice to confirm children in the church once they were closer to adolescence instead of infancy. This way the child was old enough to understand the true meaning, and make the decision for themselves. Theologians began to teach that Confirmation was the sacrament

Confirmation deepens and strengthens the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive through Baptism. Confirmation is always celebrated by the Bishop of the diocese, this is because Bishops are the successors of Christ’s apostles and have received the fullest form of the sacrament of Holy Orders so this process began the practice of confirmation so their successors could continue it as local leaders of the Catholic Church. By celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation, they show that one of the purposes of Confirmation is to join its recipients more closely to the Church and to Christ. The most important effect of Confirmation is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in to the recipient. Just as the Baptism did, Confirmation gives an ineradicable character to its recipients- this is why you can only be confirmed once. ‘Ineradicable’ means “unable to be removed” the character given at Confirmation marks recipients permanently and spiritually as people of Christ. Your role changes once you receive Confirmation, your role is strengthened in the Spirit to the fulfill one of the following roles: priests who intercede with prayer, prophets who are unafraid to stand up and speak freely for God or kings who are nothing less than the children of God. The Bible states “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samar’ia had received the word of God, they sent to them

The effect of life after Confirmation unites one more firmly to Christ allowing the Holy Spirit to anoint you with special gifts, and receive a special strength from the Holy Spirit held within. The Holy Spirit spreads and defends faith by word and action as a true witness of Christ, and therefore never ashamed of the Cross. For the future of Confirmation, there are many ways to continue the future development of Confirmation with the Holy Spirit thereby bringing others closer to Christ as well as continuing out path of righteousness, once completed. We tend to get so busy in our daily lives and families that we find ourselves not making time for God and our faith; this is when the walk with Christ can dissipate. Once you are confirmed, you are making the lifelong choice to follow God, and live a life of service to your faith. We do this by working to bring our children closer to Him. There are many tools and vessels in order to create excitement and joy for the younger generations to have a successful walk with Christ. Ones such as Vacation Bible School (VBS) , camping trips, and Sunday morning kids studies. We can even gear towards the young adults, or even our single members in the congregation by holding youth group Bible studies, taking missionary trips, or creating studies dedicated for the “single” members, not