Living The Catechism of The Catholic Church, Vol 2 by Schoenborn Christoph Cardinal

Author:Schoenborn, Christoph Cardinal [Schoenborn, Christoph Cardinal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
ISBN: 9780898707274
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2011-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

27

The grace of confirmation

“What does confirmation add to the grace of baptism?”, asked the late Cardinal Yves Congar, who had been a theologian at the Council. He went on to say: “Christian baptism is baptism in the Spirit; it gives us regeneration and takes us into the life of Christ, into his Body. That is what the liturgies say, as do the earliest Fathers. The Holy Spirit is already bestowed in baptism. Why, then, do we say that a further rite is needed for him to be given?” (I Believe in the Holy Spirit [New York: Seabury Press, 1983]).

The relationship between the grace of baptism and the grace of confirmation has occasionally been compared to the relationship between Easter and Pentecost. On Easter Day the risen Lord came into the midst of the disciples, gave his greeting of peace, and breathed upon them: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22). On the day of Pentecost the disciples also received the gift of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised after his Resurrection: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

Both baptism and confirmation bestow the Holy Spirit and his gifts, and yet just as birth and growth cannot be reversed, so the sacrament of rebirth must precede the sacrament of growth in the Holy Spirit.

In the Catechism what is distinctive about the grace of confirmation is stated in comparative terms: “[I]t roots us more deeply in the divine filiation. . .; 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” (CCC 1303 [emphasis added]). All this is already given in baptism, but confirmation makes it deeper, firmer, more perfect. But where does this “more” of confirmation take us?

Baptism incorporates individuals into the Church, which is the people of God and the Body of Christ (CCC 776).

Confirmation brings with it a new factor: not only does the individual need the community the life of the community depends on the individual’s commitment and share of responsibility. Confirmation is meant to show this aspect and to enable the young Christian, endowed with the Holy Spirit, to place himself at the disposal of the missionary outreach of the Church (T. Schneider, Zeichen der Nähe Gottes, 117f.)

The grace of confirmation is above all a grace of sending, a commissioning for mission, for apostolate, and the strengthening for that mission. By “apostolate” the Council means every activity of the Church aimed at the sanctification of men and the ordering of them toward Christ (CCC 863): “In virtue of their union with Christ the Head, the laity have an obligation and right to the apostolate. For, incorporated into Christ’s Mystical Body by baptism and strengthened with the power of the Holy Spirit in confirmation, they are entrusted with an apostolate by the Lord himself” (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, no. 3).

One effect of confirmation is given a special emphasis: the strengthening of Christian life for spiritual combat.

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