Confirmation

If you read the account in the Gospel of John beginning at chapter 14 (Last Supper discourses), you will hear our Lord speaking very tenderly to His disciples and giving them an idea of what their discipleship will be like after He leaves them.  He tells them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” (Jn 14:12)  He lets them know how to demonstrate their love for Him by saying, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14:15)  Then He tells them what He will do to help them:  “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.” (Jn 14:16-17) In revealing the help that He had in mind for them, He also revealed it to us.  And He made this same assertion to them as he ascended into Heaven after the Resurrection, and He fulfilled His promise on Pentecost. 
 
This sacrament of Confirmation is given to us so that we, too, will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in living out our call to discipleship with courage, and makes us receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  We will be able to spread and defend our faith in the witness of our life both in word and deed, and we receive gifts through the Holy Spirit which correspond to this.  It deepens our relationship to God as adopted children.  It firmly unites us to Jesus. It strengthens our sense of belonging to the universal Church and our parish community and creates a special bond to our bishop.  We are marked with a seal that identifies us as belonging completely to Jesus Christ and that places us in service to Him.  We don’t merely show up to mass on Sunday:  we have to fulfill the commission He gives us to serve Him.  Because of this sacrament, we are to live our life in an intentional way that demonstrates the love we have for Jesus Christ.  It even will give us the courage to be martyrs.  Not all are called to die a physical death of martyrdom, but most often we die to those people or situations which attempt to pull us away from Jesus Christ.  This is where we call upon the Holy Spirit for the help which Jesus promises to us in this sacrament.