Gathering Parents for Sacraments Fr Bernard Mournian Pentecost

Gathering Parents for Sacraments Fr Bernard Mournian

Pentecost

What will we cover? • What does the Church teach about Confirmation? • Some particular details about our preparation and celebration

Second Vatican Council

Lumen Gentium 11 • By the sacrament of Confirmation they [the baptised] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are endowed with the special strength of the holy spirit. Hence, as true witnesses of Christ, they are more strictly obliged both to spread and to defend the faith by word and deed.

Lumen Gentium 11 • true witnesses of Christ • spread • by and defend the faith word and deed

Lumen Gentium 11 • friendship with Christ - prayer/sacraments • knowledge • faith & understanding of the faith that is demonstrated by good works

Cathechism of the Catholic Church

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • Old Testament prophets - the Spirit would rest on the hoped-for Messiah • The fulness of the Spirit would be communicated to the whole messianic people • Christ promised this outpouring • After Pentecost, those who believed in the apostolic preaching & were baptised also received the outpouring of the Spirit

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • “From that time on the apostles, in fulfilment of Christ’s will, imparted to the newly baptised by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. ” (Paul VI)

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name “Christian”, which means anointed. (Catechism)

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • By this anointing the confirmand receives the “mark”, the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal authority, or ownership of an object. Hence soldiers were marked with their leader’s seal and slaves with their master’s. (Catechism 1295)

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father’s seal. Christian’s are also marked with a seal: “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us: he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. ” This seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrolment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial. (Catechism 1296)

Confirmation in the economy of salvation • Our total belonging to Christ • Our enrolment in his service for ever • Divine protection

How is Confirmation Celebrated?

Elements of the Rite • When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, as is the case in the Roman Rite, the Liturgy of Confirmation begins with the renewal of baptismal promises and the profession of faith by the confirmands. • This emphasises the connection between Baptism and Confirmation

Elements of the Rite • In the Roman Rite the bishop extends his hands over the whole group of confirmands. Since the time of the apostles this gesture has signified the gift of the Spirit.

Elements of the Rite • The bishop invokes the outpouring of the Spirit in the Prayer of Confirmation, which includes. . . • Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgement and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence. . .

Elements of the Rite • The essential rite of the sacrament follows. In the Latin rite, “the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with Chrism on the forehead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, and through the words: “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

Elements of the Rite • The sign of peace that concludes the rite of the sacrament signifies and demonstrates ecclesial communion with the bishop and with all the faithful.

Effects of Confirmation

Effects of Confirmation • It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

Effects of Confirmation • From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: • it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry “Abba! Father!” • it unites us more firmly to Christ • It increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us • it renders our bond with the Church more perfect

Effects of Confirmation • It gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross. (Council of Florence 1439/LG 11)

Minister of the Sacrament • In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop. . (he) may for grave reasons concede to priests. . . it is appropriate from the very meaning of the Sacrament that he should confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporarily suspended from baptism for this reason.

Minister of the Sacrament • Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the fulness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ.

Some Key points from this • Confirmation is for those who have been baptised • One constant within the Latin Rite has been that the Bishop is the original/ordinary Minister of the Sacrament. • In ordinary circumstances it should be celebrated by the Bishop • This shows the bond with the Pentecost (bishop as successor of the apostles) and with the Church (bishop as source of unity)

Some Key points from this • Anointing given to make us more conformed to Christ and so sons (and daughters) of God • We are sealed as God’s own people/children • The gifts of the Spirit strengthen us for witness • The fruitfulness of this depends upon our response.

From the Guidelines • It is customary for children to choose a saint’s name for Confirmation as a sign of the new birth and identity they receive in Christ through the Sacraments of Initiation. This custom is to be encouraged since the saints are those, who, having received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have shown the fruits of the Spirit in the witness of a good and holy life. It is hoped that the saints chosen by the children will be invoked regularly as part of a “Litany of the Saints” in class prayer times.

From the Guidelines • In infant baptism, parents and godparents professed the faith of the Church in the child’s name. In Confirmation, each candidate is invited to profess the Church’s faith in their own name. It is therefore fitting that preparation for Confirmation will include a direct catechesis on the articles of the Creed, in a way which is suitable to the candidate’s age and stage of development.

From the Guidelines • Confirmation will normally be celebrated by the Bishop at Mass in the Church. This demonstrates clearly that the effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins, and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ.

From the Guidelines • Candidates will choose a Sponsor for Confirmation. The Sponsor, who represents the whole Church in the faith formation of the candidate, must be a practising Catholic in full communion with the Church.

From the Guidelines • The immediate preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation should include the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a time of retreat or recollection.

From the Guidelines • Whereas parents asked for baptism for their child and later petitioned the parish priest on their child’s behalf for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist, the candidates themselves will petition their parish priest for Confirmation, a petition which is to be counter-signed by a parent or responsible adult. The parish priest will convey these petitions to the bishop.

From the Guidelines • Although the Sacrament of Confirmation will bring the Christian initiation of baptised children to a conclusion, the fully- initiated young Catholics still require support and good example and further catechesis from parents, from priests, from the Catholic secondary school and from the whole community

From the Guidelines • It is especially to be borne in mind that the centre of the Sacraments of Initiation is the Eucharist. One of the marks and obligations of the fully-initiated Catholic is full, active and conscious participation at Sunday Mass. Young Catholics must fulfil the serious obligation to participate at Sunday Mass so that the Eucharist will be at the centre of a full Christian life

Sponsor They must have a Sponsor. The Sponsor should be present at the Mass of Enrolment (and the Mass of Confirmation). The Sponsor must be 16 yrs or older, a practising Catholic, who is able to receive Holy Communion

• The children should be attending Sunday Mass every week • They should be regularly celebrating the Sacrament of Penance (not only when available in the school) • In prayers at school and home they should be asking daily for their chosen Saint to pray for them • They should find out as much as they can about their Saint

• Fruits of the Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity. (Gal 5) • They should be encouraged to reflect on how better they can bear witness to the fruits of the Spirit in their lives after Confirmation