Every year, thousands of young Catholics receive the powerful Sacrament of Confirmation.
Here’s what one priest, Fr. Bill Peckman (pastor of the Missouri parish that suffered a vandal attack earlier this year), told his parish’s confirmandi recently, according to his Facebook page:
1) You’re not “graduating”
Confirmation is not graduation. It is not a merit badge we give you at the end of having jumped through the appropriate number of hoops.
2) It’s not about “taking ownership” of your faith.
Confirmation isn’t about you taking ownership of your faith. If we are asking you to take ownership of your faith at this juncture of your life, we have failed as a Church.
3) It’s about grace
Confirmation is about the giving of the grace necessary to live the life of a Catholic, not just down the road, but right now.
4) The objective truth of God
There is such a thing as subjective and objective truth. They are not interchangeable. The teachings of the Church on faith and morals are objective truth as they are revealed truth, having God, the source of all truth as their genesis.
What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments!
[See also: 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Know About the Holy Spirit]
[See also: The “Eternal Sin”: The True Meaning of “Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit”]