January 2007 Feature Article

The Baptism of the Lord and the Sacrament of Confirmation

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio

Some wonder why we need the sacrament of confirmation.  To some it appears to be an afterthought, as anticlimactic.  After all, we receive the Spirit in baptism and receive Christ bodily in the Eucharist.  So what else to we get when we are confirmed?

Simple.  We receive our mission and the power to carry it out.  For being a “Christian” is not about just “getting saved.”  It’s about sharing in Christ’s anointing to transform the world.  The mission is an essential part of the package, not an option.  That’s why we are called “Christians” or anointed ones.  It is not just priests and religious who are supposed to make it happen.  Every single one of us is called and anointed.  And that’s why confirmation is one of the essential sacraments of initiation.  Without it, one is not fully incorporated into the Church, which is a missionary community.

The question for those of us who have received this power-packed sacrament is this–what are we doing with it?