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CONFIRMATION

The Forgotten Sacrament

by Rev. Raiph Fisher, C.S.C.

AVE MARIA PRESS

Notre Dame, Indiana



NIHIL OBSTAT—John L. Reedy, G.S.C.

Censor Deputatus

IMPRIMATUR— Most Rev. Leo A. Pursley, D.D.
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend

March, 1961

All rights reserved. This pamphlet may not be

reproduced by any means in whole or in part

without prior permission.

Third Printing March, 1962

© 1961, Ave Maria Press



Not too long ago I talked to a young

lad— 17 years old— who had not yet
received the sacrament of Confirma-

tion. Twice he had been prepared to

receive it as a youngster. He had faith-

fully attended the catechism classes and

was all ready to be confirmed. Both

times, though, before the date sched-

uled for the Bishop’s coming his father

was transferred by the company that

employed him to another town. The

whole family moved with him, and so

Jim was never confirmed. After that

he had just forgotten about it, the way

so many of us do, even after we have

been confirmed.

You can’t call Penance or Holy Com-

munion forgotten sacraments. Most

Catholics receive these sacraments fair-

ly regularly, even frequently or daily.

Baptism and Extreme Unction stand

out in our minds because they’re the

first and last ones on the list. And

very few persons have to be reminded

that they have received either Holy

Orders or the sacrament of Matrimony.

Now Confirmation— that’s another
story. But why is it the forgotten sac-
rament?



Maybe it’s because we have too little

understanding of it, because we’re not

conscious of the practical implications

of the sacrament of Confirmation in

our day-to-day lives, because we’re just

vaguely aware of what we receive in

this sacrament and what responsibili-

ties it imposes on us.

We Have a Mandate

In any consideration of the sacra-

ments, Confirmation follows immediate-

ly after Baptism because these two

sacraments are very closely related. As

a matter of fact, Confirmation is really

the fulfillment— the completion— of
the sacrament of Baptism.

Sometimes we hear Confirmation de-

scribed as the sacrament of the Holy

Ghost. That’s true if you know just what

this means. It doesn’t imply that the

Holy Ghost doesn’t come to us in Bap-

tism also, because that would not be

true. The Holy Spirit comes to us in

both sacraments, but for a different

purpose.

In Baptism the Christian dies with

Christ and rises with Him to a new life,

the life of sanctifying grace. The effect

4



of this is to give him personal holiness

right here and now. Confirmation is

the logical complement of this sacra-

ment because it gives the Christian

social holiness and a corresponding so-

cial responsibility for the whole Mys-

tical Body. By it the Christian becomes

not only a beneficiary or fruit of

Christ’s mission to redeem all creation

for His Father, but he also receives a

share in this mission. More specifically,

through Confirmation each Christian

shares in the mandate Christ gave to

His Apostles just before His Ascension

into heaven: “Going, therefore, teach

ye all nations. . . .”

Courage for the Fearful

As a confirmed follower of Christ,

the Christian must now be concerned

about spreading Christ’s kingdom on

earth. And each one of us is obligated
to do this within the framework of our

particular vocation in life, whether as

priests or religious, as lay men or wo-
men. But this is a frightening respon-

sibility. Most of us hang back a little,

thinking that we will be happy if we
can just save our own souls and hope

5



that others will be able to do so also.

And that’s not to be wondered at. Fear

is natural in the face of such a gigantic

and awesome responsibility; that’s why

Christ left us the sacrament of Confir-

mation, to give us the courage and wis-

dom we need in spreading His kingdom.

The difference between the graces of

Baptism and Confirmation is seen dra-

matically in Scripture itself. After the

death of Christ, the Apostles were

shaken and frightened. They hid in the

upper room, the Gospel tells us, afraid

of the Jews. Surely they had been bap-

tized before this; but they hadn’t as yet

received the special coming of the Holy

Ghost, Whom Christ had promised He
would send.

Then came the feast of Pentecost

and with it the descent of the Holy

Ghost upon them in the form of tongues

of fire. What was the result? Filled

with courage and zeal, they immediate-

ly went out to preach Christ’s Gospel.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us that

when they were brought before the

Jewish high court and given 40 lashes,

they felt themselves lucky to be counted

worthy to suffer for Christ.

6



The Martyr’s Example

This wasn’t true only of the Apostles.

In the first 300 years of Christianity,

everyone who became a Christian knew

that he was courting death. Death

caught up with thousands and thou-

sands of them during the three cen-

turies of persecution the early Church

suffered under the Roman emperors.

The courage and steadfastness of these

martyrs astounded and infuriated their

pagan persecutors. How could these

Christians— even women and young
children— find the obstinate courage
to stand up to the emperor and defy

him in the face of threats and torture?

To the pagans it was a mystery, but

the Christians knew where such power

came from. It was the Holy Spirit

within them, strengthening and fortify-

ing them. That’s why the Church in
the Mass for a virgin martyr cries out,

“O God, one of the marvelous examples

of your power was granting the victory

of martyrdom even to delicate woman-

hood. . . .”

A few years ago a book appeared
which stunned the country. It was en-

titled In Every War But One

,

and de-

7



tailed the many examples of American

soldiers who collaborated with their

Communist captors in the Korean War.

It shocked us because we are accus-

tomed to think of soldiers as courag-

eous— American soldiers, especially.
And here was documentary proof that

many of our soldiers did not have the

necessary courage to overcome Chinese

wiles and tortures. We felt that they
had failed us, our traditions and our

ideals.

We’re Marked Men

Every catechism or book on the sac-

raments says that Confirmation makes

us soldiers of Christ. This is seen quite

clearly in the ceremony of the sacra-

ment. The Bishop traces the sign of the

cross on the forehead of the person be-

ing confirmed. The symbolism of this

action goes back to Roman days, when

it was customary for every soldier to

be tatooed with the name or sign of

the general in whose army he was serv-

ing. The sign of the cross traced upon

our foreheads is the symbol that we

have become soldiers in the army of

the crucified Christ. And this is not a

mere ritualistic gesture.

8



Confirmation is one of the sacra-

ments which print an indelible mark

on the soul of the one receiving it, a

mark that will remain as a badge of

glory or shame throughout all eternity,

depending on how faithfully we fulfill

our new responsibility. St. Thomas’

comment on this is: “A man receives

the Holy Spirit in Confirmation for the

courage necessary to the spiritual com-

bat, that he may courageously confess

the Faith of Christ, even against the

adversaries of the Faith. Hence it is

fitting that he be signed with the sign

of the cross on his forehead. As a sol-

dier is marked with the sign of his

leader, so the Christian is marked with

the sign of the cross. ... He is anointed

on the forehead, that he might openly

show himself to be a Christian, just as

the Apostles, after receiving the Holy

Spirit, manifested themselves, whereas

formerly they had hidden in the Cen-

acle.”

Persecution Faces Us

But this is not the only indication

that the confirmed Christian must be

willing to suffer— even die— if neces-
9



sary. As the Bishop confers the sacra-

ment, he gently strikes the cheek of

the one confirmed to remind him that

as the world hated and persecuted

Christ, so will it hate and persecute His

followers. Christ Himself warned us:

“If the world hates you, know that it

has hated Me before you. ... If they

have persecuted Me, they will persecute

you also. . . . Yes, the hour is coming

for everyone who kills you to think

that he is offering worship to God. And

these things they will do because they

have not known the Father nor Me.”

Persecution is no stranger to the

20th-century world. Thousands of

Christians in the captive countries to-

day— those behind the Iron and Bam-
boo Curtains— know what it means to
suffer for their Faith. Many have al-

ready tasted the blood of martyrdom,

and the others have to be prepared for

it daily. For them the graces of Con-

firmation are indeed real. But what

about us in our daily lives? Very few

of us are faced with the need to defend

our Faith with our lives. How, then,

can we give witness to it?

Today we must face the fact that we

10



live in a pagan world. The United

States is not a Catholic country. Most

of the people with whom we associate

in our daily lives are not— by and
large— living according to the ethics
and the moral teachings of Jesus Christ.

In fact, most of those who call them-

selves Christians guide their lives by

the erroneous principles so much in

vogue in the world today.

“Situational Morality”

I’ll give an example of what I mean

— a crude example, perhaps, yet one
which accounts for so much payola,

graft and all sorts of sinful chicanery

today.

What it comes down to is this: If I

enjoy something, want it and like it,

then it is good for me and I’m going
to go ahead and do it. Almighty God

has created me. He loves me, knows
my desires and wants me to be happy.
I know that there are certain acts
which He has forbidden to me; but,
after all, sin is in the intention, and I

have absolutely no intention of offend-

ing Almighty God. He can read my
heart, and He knows I don’t intend to

11



offend Him. I just want to do this be-

cause it seems to me enjoyable and for

my benefit. Therefore, I’ll go ahead

and do it, and for me it is not a sin

since I don’t intend to sin. And so

divorce, birth control, taking bribes or

padding expense accounts, petty thiev-

ery and a host of other sins are ration-

alized away. But there’s an error in

all this.

Suppose I come up to you with a

sharp razor in my hand and tell you
to relax. I don’t want to hurt you and

in no way mean to offend you, but I

have a little quirk in my personality.
I truly enjoy seeing blood flow; there-

fore, I’m going to open a vein in your

wrist. No offense intended!

I’m sure you would be offended and

do everything in the world to prevent

me from carrying out my intention.
But that’s the way we often act toward

God. We say we have no intention to
sin or offend Him, even though He has

by His laws told us that certain actions

do offend Him. But often the world

adjusts the law of God to suit its own

needs. This is done in the social world,

in the business world, in almost every

12



field of activity. We rationalize away

our faults. They are not sinful, so we

claim.

Can We Remake God?

One of our great Catholic authors,

Frangois Mauriac, once said that God

made man in His own image and like-

ness and that man has returned the

favor— a very good description of the
situational morality which guides so

much of the modem world. We decide
what God should be like and act ac-

cordingly, rather than try to find out

what God really is like and adjust our-

selves to Him.

Just look around you and see how

many of your friends, both Catholic

and non-Catholic— maybe even you
yourself— guide their lives by the
thinking described above. It’s tough to

rub elbows with them day in and day

out and still maintain our Faith, prac-

ticing it the way Christ demands of

us. We have to have supernatural help
to do it, and we get that help in the

sacrament of Confirmation.

But let’s take a closer look at some

of the ways in which this help comes

13



to us and how it should influence us in

our daily lives. Let’s look at the seven

gifts of the Holy Spirit. It’s true that

they come to us originally in Baptism,

but in Confirmation they are tremen-

dously increased in our souls.

Wisdom

The first gift we call wisdom. It

can be defined as a sensitivity to God’s

revelations concerning Himself and our

duties to Him. This deepens immensely

our attitude and dependence upon God

every time we adore Him in the Sacri-

fice of the Mass. Further, it should be

the springboard for our zeal for the

salvation of the souls of others. For

when we fully realize how much God

loves us, we want others to know how

much He loves them, too. And we can’t

help realizing that God wants all men

to love and worship Him without being

eager to win them for Him.

It was because St. John Bosco was

so filled with this gift of wisdom that

he could say, “Give me souls, you can

have everything else.” He wanted to

bring God to them and them to God.

14



Knowledge

Knowledge is the second gift of the

Holy Ghost, and it is the perception of

the essentially relative and perishable

nature of earthly goods. Suppose you

work in a factory which makes clothes.

You see everyone else there making

off with articles of clothing quite fre-

quently. It would be easy for you to

do likewise; but if you really have the

gift of knowledge and follow its in-

spirations, you won’t. After all, what’s

a new jacket, pair of trousers or sports

coat compared to the love of God?

These things will all pass away.

Or take the question of support for

your church or the foreign missions.

Naturally, you won’t exactly want to

part with your $10 bill with its picture

of Alexander Hamilton, even though

the missionary’s tale of need does touch

you deeply. But if you have the reali-

zation that money is really quite insig-

nificant in comparison with the work

of winning souls for Christ you will be

able to give generously. And if you are

really generous you might want to give

two or three years of your own life to

this work as a lay missionary rather

15



than starting right in after college to

build yourself some security and a place

in society.

Counsel

The third gift is counsel

,

the facility

to decide God’s will in a particular in-

stance or set of circumstances. Maybe

it’s a question of the vocation to which

God is calling you. Or maybe you’ve

fallen romantically in love with a non-

Catholic, and then realize the dangers

of the situation in your case. So you

know through the gift of counsel that

you have to fall back out of love again.

There are 1,000 examples of how the

gift of counsel is needed in the various

works of Catholic action.

Understanding

Understanding— the fourth gift—
is an ease in accepting all the truths

revealed to men by God, despite the

mysteries they involve. And I think

that it’s easy to give an example of this.

Almost every Sunday I say Mass in a

parish church. As I pass up and down

the Communion rail, distributing the

Lord’s Body and Blood to hundreds of

16



people each Sunday, I can’t help but

be struck by their faith. There is no

reasonable, logical explanation of the

miracle of the Eucharist on strictly

natural grounds. It demands faith to

accept this teaching of Christ. It is

truly a mystery, but one which every

Catholic holds firmly, enlightened by

the gift of understanding.

As St. Thomas Aquinas put it, speak-

ing of faith in the Holy Eucharist, “Not

to sight, or taste, or touch be credit,

Hearing only do we trust secure; I be-

lieve, for God the Son has said it—
Word of truth that ever shall endure.”

Piety

And fifth in the list of the gifts of

the Holy Spirit comes piety, an apti-

tude for prayer. In this instance we can

recall St. Benedict’s advice to his monks

when they complained that their work

was keeping them away from prayer.

Don’t forget, he told them, that work

is prayer when you do everything for

God’s greater honor and glory. We can
turn that around and truthfully say

that prayer is work. Most of us don’t

17



find it easy to be regular in our prayers,

to kneel down and pray when we don’t

feel like it; but we realize that we

should pray. Think of the millions and

millions of families that daily pray the

family rosary. Think of the millions

who devote an hour a week or a month

to nocturnal adoration of the Blessed

Sacrament in their parish church. Sure-

ly, they do this only because they are

hearkening to the inspirations the Holy

Ghost sends them through the gift of

piety.

Fortitude

The sixth gift is fortitude

,

a readi-

ness to endure the privations and sacri-

fices which a life of virtue inevitably

entails. I think all of us already know

what this means. We find it mighty
hard to stick close to God day after day,

to ignore the example of the pagan

world around us, to overcome the temp-

tations that come to us on every side,

and especially those that rise from the

murky corners of our own personalities

and temperaments. It takes courage to

live as Christ wants us to, but the gift

of fortitude will help us do it.

18



Fear of the Lord

Then, last of the seven comes the

gift of fear of the Lord. And what do

we mean by this? It is not fear in the

sense that a student who hasn’t studied

is afraid he is going to fail his final

exams. Or in the sense that a criminal

is afraid the police are going to catch

up with him. No, it’s a deeper and

better fear than that. It’s the fear of the

young man or woman who loves his or

her parents so much, respects them so

much, that he or she doesn’t want to

do anything that will hurt them, that

will make them regret the confidence

they have placed in their son or daugh-

ter.

It’s a fear that comes from love and

respect. It makes us stop and measure

our actions against what we know a

loving God expects of us. Because we

love Him, we want very much to do

what He wants us to do and are always

wary lest we fail Him in some way or
other.

Who’s at Fault?

But if we are supposed to receive

these gifts of the Holy Ghost in Con-

19



firmation—and we’ve already been con-
firmed—why don’t we feel their influ-
ence more in our daily lives? Probably

it’s our own fault.

God doesn’t force anyone, and His

gifts are not going to change our lives

unless we want them to and co-operate

with them. There is a saying among

theologians, handed down through the

centuries, that grace doesn’t destroy na-

ture but builds upon it. And if we ex-

pect God’s gifts to make themselves felt

in our lives we have to do something to

prepare ourselves for them so that they

can work in us. To put it bluntly, we

have to work a little more and pray

a little more. At least, most of us should.

The Holy Spirit works in our souls

through inspirations. And I’m afraid

many Catholics wouldn’t recognize an

inspiration of the Holy Ghost if it

walked in on them in red flannels.

Almost every prayer addressed to

the Holy Spirit asks for His direct help

in living our Faith as we should. One

that comes to mind right now begins,

“May my understanding be submissive
to Your inspirations and to the teach-

ings of the Holy Catholic Church.” Now

20



it doesn’t make sense to pray that our

understanding blindly be submissive to

the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and

the teachings of the Church unless we

have a pretty good idea of what the

Church teaches. And too many of us

know only quite vaguely some of the

most important doctrinal and moral

teachings of the Catholic Church.

Oh, Those Long Sermons!

But isn’t that what the Sunday ser-

mons are for—to instruct us in the
teachings of the Church and in our

moral obligations? Don’t they suffice?

No! If we really want to be honest

with ourselves, we can’t claim that we

get all the instruction and exhortation

necessary from the pulpits of our parish

churches. Maybe if our pastors dared to

preach long enough these lessons would

suffice. But because we get restless in

church, because they worry about park-

ing problems and getting one group out

of church and another in for the next

Mass, our pastors seldom preach ser-

mons longer than about seven or eight

minutes. And that is not enough.

21



In the Acts of the Apostles, we

read that St. Paul once kept his hearers

from evening until the next morning

while he preached to them. But not even

St. Paul could get away with it without

trouble. St. Luke tells us: “A young

man named Eutychus, who was sitting

at the window, was overcome with

drowsiness, and, as Paul addressed them

at great length, he went fast asleep and

fell down from the third story to the

ground and was picked up dead” (Acts

20:9).

There aren’t many fellows around

today with the name Eutychus; but

pastors know that many a Tom, Dick

and Harry would have nervous prostra-

tion if the sermon lasted more than 15

minutes at most. For St. Paul there was

no problem; he raised the lad back to

life again. But most priests today don’t

count on miracles to repair the physical

damages their sermons might give rise

to.

So our sermons, while necessary and

helpful, are not of themselves sufficient.

We need something more. And we can
get it with a minimum of effort.

22



What? Read 30 Books?

In this country, in this day and age,

the easiest way of becoming acquainted

with the teachings of the Church and

with the possible development of the

supernatural life we lead is through

spiritual reading. The average spiritual

book is seven to 10 chapters long. The

average reader can get through a chap-

ter in about 15 minutes. That means

that if every Catholic were to spend 15

minutes a day doing spiritual reading,

he would read easily 30 books a year.

And at the end of the year he would

know much more about the teachings of

the Church than when he began and

would, I prophesy, be considerably ho-

lier.

Such a person would really be pray-

ing when he uttered the words, “Make

my understanding submissive to the
inspirations of the Holy Spirit.” And

unless you’re willing to do a little bit of

work to prepare yourself for the in-

spiration of the Holy Ghost, it might be

better not to say such prayers. And if

you’re willing to do this extra work, it’s

pretty safe to say that you’ll be doing a

little more praying, too.

23



Are All Sacraments Equal?

Not all the sacraments are of equal

importance. Certainly, the Holy Eu-

charist is the most important of all

since in it we come into contact not

only with grace, but with Christ Him-

self directly. The other sacraments vary

in importance according to particular

situations and circumstances.

Suppose you were in a terrible ac-

cident while in the state of mortal sin.

If someone were to approach you as

you lay dying alongside the highway

and ask you which sacrament you were

most interested in receiving right then,

you would emphatically and rightly an-

swer Penance. “Get me a priest, I want

to go to confession!”

20th-Century Saints

As has been said so many times be-

fore, the world in which we live today

is not a Christian world. It’s hard, even

for those who are sincerely trying, to

lead a life which is pleasing to God. It’s

a world which cries out for saints

—

heroes in every walk of life who are

willing to witness to their faith in

Christ by their lives and to work for

24



the spread of His kingdom. As Pius XI

said, “Let us thank God that He makes

us live among the present problems. . . .

It is no longer permitted to anyone to

be mediocre.” And it is because of the

particular age in which we live that the

sacrament of Confirmation assumes so

much importance in the life of the

Christian today.

By it he is given a social holiness

in addition to the personal holiness he

received in Baptism. He is given a man-

date to share in the very work of Christ

Himself, to bring God to men and men

to God. “Going, therefore, teach ye all

nations whatsoever I have commanded

you. . . It gives him an official ca-

pacity in the social life of the Church.

He has now the duty to participate in

the external mission of the Church, to

give of his time and talents in order

that the society of which he is a mem-

ber will become a place in which it is

easier for its members to be brought

to God.

While St. Pius X was Pope, he once
asked his Cardinal-advisers what they

thought was the greatest need of the

Church in the 20th century. More

25



churches, more priests, more semi-

naries, more schools—these were the
answers they gave him. To all of these

suggestions St. Pius X said no. What
the Church needs most of all in our

day, he told them, is a group of apostolic

laymen in every parish.

“Spread the Faith!”

“Keep the Faith” has been the

watchword of the Church in America

far too long. It should be “Spread the

Faith.” A man cannot really be an
apostle or a witness to Christ unless he

has first achieved some depth of holi-

ness in his personal life. But a Catholic

cannot be content to strive only for

personal sanctity when the society in

which he lives is a pagan one. And what

else can we call our society today?

We’re faced with a litany of prob-

lems both within our country and across

the world. And the really critical prob-

lems of our day remain largely un-

touched by the influence of Catholics.

Racial discrimination and segregation,

civil rights, labor-management team-

work, migrant workers, secularized edu-

cation, pornography, high health costs,

26



corrupt politics, the population problem

—all of these areas are crying out for
a Christian solution. But have we given

it?

Pope Pius XII spoke to more people

than any other Pope in history, and the

constant theme of his message to Cath-

olics was that they should make their

lives more truly Catholic—that they
should use the graces Confirmation had

given them. He urged them to view

their work-life, their professional ca-

reers, their political opportunities as

providential areas in which they could

bear witness to Christ and make His

teachings effective.

“Yes, bearers of life,” he told them,

“penetrate into every place, into fac-

tories, offices, fields, wherever Christ

has the right to enter. . . . Make your-

selves felt, use your rights and inner

riches, in legislation and administration,

in marriage and the family, in educa-

tion and in schools, in the saving of the

workers from the danger of falling into

atheistic materialism.”

Christ once told His Apostles that

the harvest was great but the laborers

were few. If we are to Christianize the

27



world we live in, there is plenty of work

to go around. There is a man-sized job

for every adult Christian. And through

the sacrament of Confirmation each of

us has received both the commission

to take up the work and the assurance

of all the grace we need to do our share.

A Saint? Who, Me?

Confirmation might very aptly be

called the call to action for the 20th-

century Catholic, the sacrament of

challenge— a challenge we too often
forget.

Most Catholics very realistically do

not view themselves as saints. And as

they examine their consciences, they do

not even believe that they have within

themselves the raw material to become

saints. Yes, they want to get inside the

doors of heaven and hope to achieve

this. But more? Somehow they just

don’t believe they’re cut out for it. But

let’s face it, heaven is open only to

saints; if we want to get in we have to

want to become saints.

Every time we recite the Apostles’

Creed we say: “I believe in the Holy

Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the

28



communion of saints

,

. . . and life ever-

lasting. Amen.”

But what does this phrase mean, the

communion of saints? As Catholics we

believe in it, so we should learn what it

means if we do not already know. The

communion of saints refers to the unity

the Church on earth shares with the

Church in purgatory and in heaven.

And we have that unity because we are

all one in Christ and in the life of sanc-

tifying grace He has won for us. We,

as much as the souls in purgatory or in

heaven, merit to be called saints not

because of our own deeds but because

as long as we are in the state of grace

we really are holy with the holiness of

Christ Himself.

Baptism: the Beginning

I don’t know if Christians of all ages

have been so afflicted, but I think that

most of us Catholics today suffer from

the disease of pessimism—from an in-
feriority complex. We rejoice fittingly,
although sometimes gushingly, at the

Baptism of an infant. But too often then

a note of wistfulness creeps in.

We know that the infant’s soul,

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laved in the blood of Christ through

Baptism, glows with the new life of

sanctifying grace. But then we project

into the future, thinking of the sins that

quite possibly will one day corrupt the

life of grace in this soul. And we are

sad. But there’s another point of view,

too.

Baptism isn’t the perfection of the

Christian life; it’s only the beginning.

Rather than thinking of the future in

terms of the corrosion and degradation

that sin will bring, we should think of

it in terms of the full, noble growth of

grace within the soul that will bring

this person to the fullness of sanctity

destined for him by almighty God. What

we need is a little Christian optimism.

The baptized infant belongs to the

family of God supernaturally just about

the same way he belongs naturally to

the family of his parents and brothers

and sisters. He shares their lifeblood

and is theirs but really hasn’t done any-

thing other than be bom. Later on, as

he develops and matures, he will be-

come the son whose accomplishments

his parents can be proud of, the brother

his siblings will learn to love for his

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goodness. His future is bright with

promise.

Confirmation: Call to Action

And that holds true in the super-

natural order also. At Baptism our life

is just beginning; the future of our su-

pernatural life shines brightly. God, like

our parents, has given us a new life,

but as yet we haven’t returned any-

thing. So too, God, like our parents, has

a right to expect great things from us.

Maybe it’s this last point that really

marks the biggest divergence between

God’s thinking and our own. God can

see us as saints; we can’t see ourselves

as such. We just don’t have enough
faith to believe that the merits of

Christ’s Passion and Death are quite

enough to make saints out of such un-

likely material as we know we are. May-

be that’s the hardest act of faith that

God asks us to make.

We spoke of Confirmation as a call
to action, a challenge—and it is just
that. The world needs saints today, and

God needs saints today to Christianize

a world which increasingly ignores Him.

We can, we must become those saints.

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To us alone this would be impossible,

but we’re not alone; God is with us. The

graces He gives us through the sacra-

ment of Confirmation will give us the

strength to achieve the deeds He fore-

saw for us on the day we were baptized

—the deeds of His saints.

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