The Sacrament of Martyrdom
What is Confirmation?
It is a sacrament that completes, and perfects,
the grace that we received through our baptism,
so that we are more tightly bound to the Church,
and allows us to preach the gospel to the nations.
”the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary
for the completion of baptismal grace. For ‘by the sacrament of
Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church
and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they
are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and
defend the faith by word and deed.’”(CCC 1285)
It is also a perpetuation of Pentecost.
Pentecost
“But you will receive power when the holy Spirit
comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Jesus is talking about Pentecost!!!
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were
all in one place together. And suddenly there came
from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it
filled the entire house in which they were. Then there
appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted
and come to rest on each one of them. And they were
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to
Receive The Holy Spirit
Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven and made
His home in our souls. We receive this most Holy guest through the
sacrament of Baptism and strengthen that indwelling in Confirmation.
Here are some readings from, The Sanctifier, A book about the Holy
Spirit.
You will be my witnesses
If Confirmation is a perpetuation of Pentecost then we are being called
to be God’s witnesses to the ends of all the earth.
This call is more than just one to go out and proclaim that
gospel.
The word witness has duel meaning in Hebrew.
1) is what we understand witness to mean: an example
2) is were we get our word martyr from.
Martyrs
The sacrament of Confirmation is the sacrament of
martyrdom!!
If we look at what happened to the first 12 disciples
we can see a pattern developing.
All but one were killed for the sake of the Gospel!!!
Lets look at the aspects of the Confirmation
celebration and we’ll see how it points to the fact that
it means martyrdom.
Sealing
1) A sign of a covenant between two people
It binds you to God in a family relationship. Meaning that you
are God’s unto death!!
2) A sign of Priesthood
3) It is a symbol of a pledge of protection.
Ezekiel 9:3-6 talks about a city that is to be destroyed but the
people who seal themselves with the Greek letter tau (which looks
like a cross) will be protected.
All of these means basically are saying that when you are sealed
you are set apart. You are sealed for a special mission.
What is that mission?
Laying ON Of Hands
Exodus 29:15
In the Old Testament, when you had hands laid on
you, it meant that you were being set aside to be
sacrificed.
The high priests would lay their hands on all the
animals that were set aside to be slaughtered as a
sacrifice.
Meaning that when you have hands laid on you by the
Bishop (AKA High Priest) you are being set aside to
be a Sacrifice for God.
What does this mean for me Today?
I love the Catholic faith. It really is my life!!
The world may not be the same as it was back in the
time of the disciples but I think that we need to be
aware that we are still under persecution.
We are to be the soldiers of Christ here on earth. We
are called to give our lives in protection of the faith.
I don’t at all want to discourage anyone from getting
confirmed but if you are just here because it is what is
expected of you, or because you
The Nuts and Bolts
In the Catholic Church we have some requirements for Confirmation.
1) Find a sponsor
2) Pick a saint name
Here at our parish we also need to know
1) When you are planning on getting confirmed
- April 2nd
- April 19th
2) Attend the three highlighted classes on the Schedule.