by Cameron Gaub
Confirmation is one of the best sacraments to receive because it signifies your transition from a child to an adult in the Catholic Church. Confirmation puts an indelible mark on our soul that can’t be taken away. Similar to what happens to a priest when they get ordained; even if that priest were to be ex-communicated from the Church, that mark would never leave their soul. So with that, who should receive the Sacrament of Confirmation? Anyone who wants to go deeper in their faith should definitely receive the sacrament! Also, a lot of diocese suggest that once one enters into the ninth grade, that they receive the sacrament.
So what is Confirmation? Confirmation gives us an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we as Catholics can continue to live out our faith to the best of our ability each and every day. The purpose of receiving the sacrament is that it not only deepens your relationship with God, but it also gives you so many graces to handle and overcome certain situations! Sure, not everything is gonna be easy in life, but when those times arise, you’ll be able to handle them more effortlessly. When a person goes through the preparation to receive the Sacrament, they should actively search to deepen their faith and their relationship with our Lord. They should also be attending Mass every single Sunday. One more thing is that they should be using the Sacrament of Reconciliation as much as possible! If they don’t go all year, then at least go before you get confirmed, otherwise the sacrament won’t be as powerful as it would be if you were in a state of grace. Also, if your parish doesn’t have one, try and get a youth mass started! What’s a youth mass? It’s where youth participate in the readings, ushering, even being a eucharistic minister! The homilies are also geared towards youth and high school students!
Usually your parish will have a Confirmation program such as Chosen (which is the program I went through). The program usually lasts through the school year (September-May). Obviously every parish is different but usually that’s when preparation happens. My journey to Confirmation was very crucial to who i am today. It was fun because i learned so much about our faith that blew me away! It also gave me the chance to answer questions I had about the catholic Church on certain topics. My favorite part about my Confirmation journey was the retreat Net Ministries put on for all the confirmandi. It was a very impactful day and it just deepened my prayer life and relationship with God.
God Bless you and be like Christ to one another!