Why is confirmation an important sacrament

Just as Baptism gives new life, Eucharist nourishes life, and Reconciliation restores life when it is broken, Confirmation strengthens that life by the gifts of the Holy Spirit cf. CCC It is about strengthening what God has given, and continues to give, to his sons and daughters cf.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is not the Catholic equivalent to the Jewish bar mitzvah. True, most young people are just beginning to pass into early adulthood when they receive the sacrament.

But Confirmation is not about coming of age. Reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation does not mark the end of formal religious education. We never outgrow a need for a deeper knowledge and appreciation of our faith. The Sacrament of Confirmation is not a rite of passage, nor a graduation from religion class, nor a ratification of a personal faith choice.

And what is God doing? Strengthening the divine life which he gave at Baptism, nourishing us in the Eucharist, and reconciling with us in Penance. So that the individual can better defend and witness to the faith through the gifts and workings of the Holy Spirit. And there are—and will be—many situations where we are called upon to defend and witness to our faith.

And we need all the help we can get! These messages and experiences will help us on our path to a testimony of the gospel and true and complete conversion. By taking advantage of these opportunities, we will move onward on our path. Elder Malm of the Seventy speaks of conversion as a process along a continuum.

The Holy Spirit comforts, sustains and guides all believers to become authentic disciples and children of Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, we can understand and experience the knowledge and love of God and love for our neighbor. Do you remember. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Why would a catholic want to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation?

I personally take inspiration from Mary as; she was someone who was kind, charitable and a person of great power and importance in the birth of Christianity but yet, was always in piety of the lord.

It is Mary who leads us and provides us with the truth about Christ, the truth about the church and the truth about humanity; Mary is the backbone of the religion we are apart of but most importantly, Mary was a mortal human just like us. Through receiving confirmation, we are provided with the opportunity to be enriched with the Holy Spirit like Mary was and provided with the opportunity to be a person of faith, developing a closer relationship with …show more content… This sacrament will provide the recipient with a revival to do this through the resealing of the Holy Spirit.

Being perfumed with Christ means you become more like him therefore, you will be inspired to live your life light of him; you will seek to be kind, seek to be charitable and seek to be honest. These qualities will allow the recipient to make a positive contribution to the world.

Confidence enables you to develop stronger connections with others and live a good life; confidence in your faith and decisions leads to happiness in yourself and with. Get Access. Satisfactory Essays. Theology reflection Words 3 Pages. As the sacrament is usually reserved to a bishop, it is common in the Catholic Church to confirm large groups of older children and young adults together during Mass. The bishop lays his hands on the head of each candidate.

This is a sign that he is appointing them to be true witnesses to Christ. The bishop prays that each person will receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: reverence, understanding, courage, knowledge, wisdom, awe and wonder and right judgment. He makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads with holy chrism oil. This is a sign of strength and a reminder of their commitment to follow Christ even to the cross. In many English-speaking countries, candidates will take the name of a saint.

The saint will act as a patron and guide to the person seeking confirmation. Candidates will usually devote time during their confirmation classes to choosing a saint who particularly inspires them. Catholics are usually confirmed after they have received their first Holy Communion.

However, this is not the traditional order for conferring the three sacraments of Christian initiation. When an adult is initiated into the Catholic Church, he or she must receive baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion in that order. In some parts of the world, Catholic dioceses are returning to the traditional order, allowing children to be confirmed before they receive their first Holy Communion for the first time at the age of seven or eight.

In Salford diocese, which oversees Catholic churches in towns and villages in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, the former bishop, Patrick Kelly, decided to reinstate the symbolic context of confirmation.

After infant baptism, children in parishes throughout the diocese would be confirmed at the age of eight at Pentecost. They would make their first confession sacrament of reconciliation in advent and first Holy Communion the following Easter. But such an arrangement means that the bishop confirms fewer people. In other Catholic dioceses in this country, the bishop will normally confirm any baptised person who seeks confirmation in one of several mass ceremonies held throughout the year.

Eastern Churches refer to confirmation as Chrismation. They confer Chrismation at the same time as baptism. This is also the practice of Eastern Rite Catholics. The special relationship between Roman Catholics and members of the Eastern Churches means that the Catholic Church does not confirm converts from the Eastern rite.

By contrast, when Roman Catholics and Protestants convert to Orthodoxy, they are usually received into the Church by Chrismation but without baptism. However, some bishops require converts to be admitted through baptism. Protestants, in particular, may have to be baptised again. Some of the practices surrounding confirmation in the Church of England are similar to the Roman Catholic Church but only the bishop can confer the sacrament.

Traditionally, confirmation was part of a wider ceremony of Christian initiation in the Church of England. It only became a separate rite when bishops were no longer able to preside at all baptisms. Anglicans who choose to be confirmed make a further commitment to the Christian journey that began with their baptism.

It marks their decision to live a responsible and committed Christian life. Through prayer and the laying of hands, the bishop asks God to send his Holy Spirit to give them the strength to live as disciples of Christ. Like baptism, there are two different types of confirmation services in the Church of England. There are those that follow the confirmation rite in The Book of Common Prayer and those that follow the confirmation rite from the Common Worship pattern.

In the Church of England, there is no set age for confirmation although it has been traditional for people to be confirmed in their early teens. The Methodist Church offers the rite of confirmation for any member who wants to make a public statement of faith as a committed Christian. Like Anglicans and Catholics, Methodists confirm the promises that were made on their behalf as a baby.