AN INVITATION TO A DEEPER INVOLVEMENT IN THE MISSION OF CHRIST

The sacrament of conformation among all sacraments is one which is given the least importance. It is
vived as a sacrament which has to be received so that we clear the hurdle to accept the next important sacrament
namely marriage/holy orders. The church too has not given it equal importance as compared to the sacrament of
Baptism and hence scholars have termed it as 'a sacrament in search of theology.' Most of us would vividly
remember our 1st Holy Communion but almost nothing about our conformation even though conformation came
much later and should be fresh in our memory. Apathy lies not only with the youngsters who are about to receive
the sacrament but also among their parents who grumble that their children have to spend so many hours in
preparation. Today the parents are more concerned about the careers of their children than religious or moral
education.
Conformation is seen as an end to religious instruction and involvement in the church activities. So once
confirmed some people come back to church only to get married; in the mean time they remain 'Sunday Catholics'
We need to understand that conformation has unique character as conformation helps young people to live their
Christian lives in a secular society. A lay animator says: Conformation catechises does not prepare the young
people 'for conformation' but 'for after conformation.' It prepares them for a greater and meaningful involvement in
the matters of the world. To understand this we need to know the theological meaning of the sacrament of
conformation.
Conformation is the sharing in the life of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted the Holy Sprit to be given to all
believers through the apostles and their successors. He also wanted the believers to share the grace through the
coming of the Holy Spirit. Conformation is thus a sacramental sign, a mystery of handing over the Holy Spirit.
Jesus after the resurrection returned to his Father but he gave us a paraclete, a mediator who would remain with us
forever ( Jn 14:16) Conformation is understood as the self-transmission of the Spirit of Christ, which calls us to a
deeper immersion into the mission of Christ. The disciples received the Holy spirit on the Pentecost day and the
same disciples who had gone into hiding after the death of Jesus scared of the Jewish authorities began to fearlessly
proclaim the Gospel and continue the mission of Jesus.

The sacrament of conformation is close to the Holy orders in conformation the laying on of hands is an
extension of the laying on of hands in orders. And as the ordained minister is called to a mission so too is the
confirmed Christian called to a mission in the secular society. Bishop Bosco Penha calls the sacrament of
Conformation a strategic means to effect church renewal. He further states that, the sacrament of conformation is
extremely crucial to make good the deficiencies of infant baptism as infant baptism does not call for a personal
commitment and faith affirmation. The Vatican Council document Lumen Gentium clearly affirms this view: "By
the sacrament of confirmation the faithful are more perfectly bound to the church and are endowed with special
strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread the faith by
word and deed. They participate in the eucharistic sacrifice and offer themselves along with it." ( LG 11)
Hence the Confirmation program needs to have a module which calls for the candidate to involve himself
through out the year in some concrete activity or a project in society/church etc.
When children are small we send them to school and make them study at times against their wish because they are
not able to understand the importance of good education. Similarly many youth are definitely not inclined towards
social and church activities. Hence we need to adopt a coercive approach for their involvement and need to
constantly monitor their work till they begin to discover the value in such activities. Activities can be broadly
classified into:
1. Chruch: This could involve ministry in sunday school, altar servers, lectors, choir, SVP, liturgical
animation, BCC etc.
2. Social Justice issues : Corruption / good governance, ecological issues, exploitation of the
marginalized etc.
3. Community Centre: ministry could be in study classes, health care, small saving groups etc.
We could let the candidate choose from these three categories based on their interest. Even a success rate of 10%
continuing with their involvement in such activities after their confirmation would help us to build a good
leadership base in the church. From my experience in one of my pastoral work parish such approach has reaped
rich benefits through constant and efficient monitoring and follow-up by the local BCC leaders. It has helped in the
greater involvement of the youth in church and social activities and thanks to a very committed priest the
confirmation programme has become a key ministry in this parish. Here we can truly see the vision of the church
for the youth which is echoed in LG 11 taking root.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

1. MUHLEN H. 'Confirmation as the Sacramental Sign', Theology Digest Vol -1972,

pp.9-15
2. PENHA. B., 'Church renewal through confirmation and Small Communities', Indian
Missiological Review, vol - 1993, pp 43-51