Confirmation:

A Deepening of Our Christian Identity

by Carol Luebering My father, Leo, didn't get a middle name at Baptism. We kids teased that his parents had simply run out of names. He was the last of a very large family. (More likely, the lack had to do with the custom of their immigrant community. !he middle initial he used throughout his adult life stood for his "onfirmation name, #eter. $sing the initial as part of his name was very fitting, for the %acrament of "onfirmation is as much a part of our "hristian identity as Baptism. &t was fitting, too, that he 'ore the names of two popes. "onfirmation, administered 'y the 'ishop or his delegate, is a personal e(perience of 'elonging to a large family of 'elievers. )lder "atholics remem'er "onfirmation as the moment when their identity was changed* !hey +received the Holy %pirit+ and 'ecame +soldiers of "hrist.+ !oday "onfirmation is often defined as a sacrament of mature "hristian commitment. &t is the occasion when young people 'apti,ed as infants put their +personal signature+ on their parents' decision. But the 'ishops have fi(ed the age for "onfirmation in the $nited %tates at +'etween seven and -..+ "an +commitment+ mean the same thing to a second/grader and a high school senior0 !his Update will e(plore the rich meaning of the %acrament of "onfirmation 'y looking at it in terms of our "hristian identity.

Acquiring Christian identity

)ur earliest ancestors in faith did not distinguish "onfirmation from Baptism. !he apostle presiding over the little community 'apti,ed new mem'ers, anointed them with oil and offered them the 1ucharist for the first time in one rite of initiation. (!he same thing happens today at the 1aster 2igil when catechumens are initiated. 3s the "hurch grew and spread throughout the world, the apostles' successors, the 'ishops, could no longer personally 'apti,e every new "hristian. !hey delegated the rite to priests. %till, the 'ishops made regular visits to local communities to confirm the priests' Baptisms with a second anointing. !hus a separate sacrament was 'orn. "onfirmation is still, with Baptism and 1ucharist, a sacrament of initiation. !he Catechism of the Catholic Church insists that the unity of the three sacraments +must 'e safeguarded+ (4-566 , even though children do not receive them at the same time. !he Catechism descri'es "onfirmation as a deepening of 'aptismal gifts. &t says that the sacrament roots us more deeply in our identity as 7od's children8 unites us more firmly with "hrist8 increases in us the gifts of the Holy %pirit8 'inds us more closely to the "hurch8 and gives us special strength to 'ear witness to our faith (see 4-9:9 . With Baptism and 1ucharist, "onfirmation shapes us as "atholic "hristians. 1ach of these sacraments focuses on a different aspect of our life as 'elievers* 'irth, 'reath and nourishment. Baptism is 'irth into the family of the "hurch. &n the 'aptismal font we die and rise to new life in "hrist. #arents 'ring an infant to the font 'ecause they want more for the child than physical life. !hey come to ask the fullness of life that only "hrist can give. When infant 'aptismal sym'olism is at its 'est, a 'a'y is lowered 'eneath the water into the death of ;esus and rises again, gasping with eternal life. &nhale, e(hale* !hat's the essential rhythm of life8 it's the first thing a new'orn must do to survive. !he 'reath of "hristian life is the Holy %pirit, the very %pirit of 7od dwelling within us. <irst received at Baptism, the gift of the %pirit is cele'rated more fully in "onfirmation. &t's like taking a more grown/up 'reath.

Besides 'reath, a new'orn needs nourishment in order to survive. Living and 'reathing, once esta'lished, continue without conscious thought. But the need for food demands our attention fre=uently. !he food we eat is the very stuff of which our 'odies are made. Without it 'a'ies can't grow and grown/ ups can't maintain healthy 'odies. ;ust so, we need the nourishment of 1ucharist fre=uently. We 'ecame mem'ers of "hrist's Body when we were 'apti,ed, 'ut the 1ucharist nourishes our growth and keeps us healthy mem'ers of "hrist.

Discovering Christian identity

3dults adopt many names 'esides those given 'y their parents at Baptism. We define ourselves 'y citing the relationships, >o's and interests that are important to us. We identify ourselves as ;eff's ?ad, Mrs. Lue'ering, ;ill's or 7reg's friend. We say we are a @ew Aorker or an &owan, a Bepu'lican or a ?emocrat, a union mem'er, stock'roker, homemaker, pro/lifer, Big Brother, #ink Lady. 3n infant, on the other hand, 'egins first to grow into an identity given 'y others. &n a matter of monthsC a'out the time parents have stopped saying +the 'a'y+ and started speaking of "hris or 7eorge or Maria Ca little one responds to the sound of his or her name. 3 family name is a greater hurdle. &t takes much more than a few months for a child to learn it, much less to come to some understanding of what it means to 'e a %anche, or a %hea or a %ekitei. &t takes time, too, for a youngster to grasp the realities of larger identities. 3 sense of racial, ethnic or national 'elonging comes slowly. &t is a'sor'ed over the years from cele'rations and stories* <ourth of ;uly fireworks and !hanksgiving pageants, ethnic foods and festivals, tales of immigrant struggles and the pain of discrimination. 3 child 'orn into the "hurch undergoes a similar learning process. %lowly the child discovers what it means to 'e "atholic from shared stories and customs. !he "hristmas creche and the crucifi( on the 'edroom wall, family prayer and %unday Mass, ;esus' name on a parent's lips and attending more formal religion classes* 3ll these things and more teach children who they are in 7od's sight, as mem'ers of 7od's family. #reparation for "onfirmation includes learning to articulate what it means to 'e a "atholic "hristian* the faith we e(press in "reed and lifestyle. "onfirmation has long 'een delayed until a 'apti,ed infant could reach some understanding of these thingsCat least until the age of reason (a'out seven and often until the approach of adolescence. !he "hurch to which parents 'rought an infant for Baptism is, of course, larger than anyone's personal e(perience. &t is larger than a circle of 'elieving friends, larger than the parish community in which a youngster has 'een growing up. &t reaches not only to Bome, 'ut also to the interior of 3frica, the scattered #hilippine &slands, the remote villages of "entral 3merica. Modern communications have shrunk the world 'eyond the wildest imaginings of previous generations. 3ll through a child's life come images of the "hurch from around the world* the "hurch's efforts to feed starving children in distant countries, papal travels, de'ates 'etween 'ishops and government 'odies. !oday's "onfirmation candidates, even the youngest ones, pro'a'ly have a 'etter sense of "hristian identity than any recent generation. Aoung people are ready to stand 'efore a representative of the larger "hurchCthe 'ishop or his delegateCand 'e anointed with the perfumed oil (chrism 'lessed 'y the 'ishop at the "hrism Mass on Holy !hursday. !hey can say with knowledge they lacked as newly 'apti,ed infants, +Aes, this is my "hurch. & accept the faith of this "hurch as my faith. !his is who & am.+ +Who are you0+ is a =uestion we first answer with our name. "atholics have traditionally chosen a "onfirmation name. &t may 'e the name of a canoni,ed saint or a hero whose life inspires a youngster. )r it may 'e a personal affirmation of the name given at Baptism.

Affirming Christian identity

%ooner or later, every youngster has to come to personal terms with his or her 'irthright identity. &t's one thing to know the traditions of a family, a people or a "hurch. &t's another to choose them, to claim that identity. +)wning+ the identity conferred at 'irth doesn't always come easily. <or e(ample, most young children cherish an +adoption fantasy,+ a conviction that they were really 'orn to 'etter parents. (3dopted children ideali,e their 'irth parents. 3ll kids at some time wish they'd 'een 'orn into a different familyCinto the household down the street where fewer rules are imposed or to a friend's more understanding parents. 3nd adolescence 'egins the new and difficult (for parents and child alikeD task of esta'lishing an identity as a separate and independent adult. %ometimes the heritage gets dumped. Most often, the ne(t generation follows in the footsteps of the generations 'efore. 3t the same time, few people accept their heritage without reshaping it to fit their own personality and e(perience, to fit the reality of the world they know. !hat's especially true with religious 'elief. !he "hurch into which your child was 'apti,ed has undergone enormous change in the last few decades. 2atican && may 'e ancient history to today's childrenCeven to their parentsC'ut its effects are still rippling through "atholic life and theology. !he world is changing, too. !oday's kids learn to use a computer as early as they wield a pencil8 they cruise the information highway with envia'le ease. What does it mean to affirm the 'aptismal commitment in a fast/changing world0 Human commitment is always a signature on a 'lank check. !he vows made on a wedding day have to 'e rethought and remade many times over the years. )ur faith commitment undergoes similar stress and change. 1very time we 'rush against mysteryCthe wonder of 'irth, the pain of loss, the frustrations of everyday lifeCour concept of 7od changes a 'it. We have to choose 'elief all over again. Like the rest of us, today's "onfirmation candidate will continue to search for a 'etter sense of divine reality until the day when eternal light e(plodes on newly opened eyes on the other side of the grave. #ledging faith to 7od is more a lifetime effort than a one/time action. &t is therefore very difficult to speak of "onfirmation as a sacrament of +mature+ commitment. 3s the Catechism warns, maturity in faith cannot 'e measured 'y age (see 4-9:E . Life is strewn with 'roken promises, a fact every child learns early and every adult acknowledges sadly. But we keep on making and receiving promises 'ecause we 'elieve that commitment is possi'le. 3nd that 'elief rests on our faith that one promise, at least, will never 'e 'roken* 7od's commitment to us. "onfirmation is the +seal+ of 7od's promise. &t marks us as 7od's property, a people set apart. "hurch law re=uires, when possi'le, "onfirmation 'efore the sacraments of commitmentCMarriage and )rdersC'ecause we 'elieve in a 7od who keeps promises, whose faithful promises provide the security from which we can promise fidelity. &n "atholic tradition "onfirmation is indeed a sacrament of commitment, 'ut the commitment we cele'rate was 7od's 'efore it was ours. &t is much less a sacrament of human commitment than a sacrament of faith in 7od's fidelity to us.

Living Christian identity

Believers have the %pirit, our 7od/'reath, from Baptism. But the %pirit who was a soft, life/sustaining 'reath in an infant is, at "onfirmation, the 'reath 'ehind speech. !he %pirit is the power to raise our voices in witness. Witness in the early "hurch often meant putting life on the line. <rom +witness+ in 7reek comes our word martyr. Believers are still dying for their faith in our world. But today witness fre=uently refers to vocali,ed faith and evangelistic fervor, in the 'est, most positive sense of these words. Witness implies enthusiastic testimony to what the Lord has done in each of our lives.

Witness was first (and still is a legal term, a description of someone who testifies to what he or she knows from personal e(perience. 3nd that is the reality of "hristian witness in every generation. Whether e(pressed 'y a martyr's death, in enthusiastic words or in =uiet, everyday concern for others' needs, "hristian witness is 'elievers' testimony to what they know* ;esus "hrist, crucified and risen, is life and hope for all the world. "hildren learn from infancy how people of faith take the stand in today's world. !hey hear =uiet prayers and stories of ;esus8 they see consolation offered for a child's skinned knee and a neigh'or's loss. !hey watch adults give themselves in service to the community and to the needy. !2 'rings far/flung witness into the living room* papal visits and famine relief efforts, missionaries slain in distant lands and hometown residents putting their lives at risk to save a child from a 'urning 'uilding. <ormal religious training ac=uaints them with the "hurch's heroes, the saints. !his, in turn, demands from older children some form of service as a sign of readiness for "onfirmation. &n a court of law, giving witness is an end, not a 'eginning. @o one e(pects the o'server to learn more a'out the facts to which he or she testifies8 no one e(pects the witness to offer fresh testimony once the case is closed. "hristian witness is different. !he case of ;esus "hrist is far from closed8 the strength of his witness and evidence that his followers offer have 'een mounting for 5,::: years. "onfirmation, like the other sacraments of initiation, marks the 'eginning of a >ourney toward deeper knowledge of 7od. )ur "onfirmation candidates >oin us in claiming our heritage. <or years to come, they will 'ear witness to what loving and 'elieving people have handed on to themCall in the %pirit of 7od. Carol Luebering is a book editor with St. Anthony Messenger Press and a freelance write