Send Countersignature Confirmation with airSlate SignNow

Send countersignature confirmation

why do I have to get confirmed if I was already baptized as a baby have you ever tried sitting on a stool with only two legs doesn't work very well a stool needs at least three legs otherwise it'll fall over we can kind of think of conformation in the same way conformation is one of the three sacraments of initiation in the Catholic Church the sacraments of Christian initiation Baptism Confirmation in the Eucharist lay the foundations of every Christian life the faithful are born anew by baptism strengthened by the Sacrament of Confirmation and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life so it's a three-legged stool Baptism Confirmation and Eucharist without confirmation you won't have the support you'll need to sustain you on your journey of faith and in some ways confirmation can be seen as the beginning of that journey think of the Apostles for example many of them had been around Jesus for years and it even been baptized but it wasn't until Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon them and took them to the next level of faith they were no longer merely receivers of God's Word they were doers of God's Word that's how it works with confirmation the church sees this sacrament as kind of a personal Pentecost for each of us the beginning of our mission to live a Christian life and because we know that doing that can be quite difficult at times at our confirmation we receive the right tools to help us on our journey of faith and by tools I mean the gifts of the Holy Spirit courage this gives us the strength to stand up from what is right in spite of popular opinion wisdom this allows us to see God working in the world always and everywhere understanding by which we are given a deeper insight into the truths of our faith knowledge not quite the same things wisdom with this gift we are able to recognize God's purpose for our lives right judgment sometimes called counsel this allows us to recognize the difference between right and wrong and choose right reverence sometimes called piety this gives us the ability to recognize our need for God fear of the Lord this isn't a fear of punishment but rather recognition of the enormity and glory of God and our desire to do right by him so as you can see baptism is a great start but without confirmation you're missing out on a lot in fact these gifts of the Holy Spirit were promised to us by Jesus himself but the Advocate the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you that's how Jesus prepared his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit today we also need to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation for starters you'll need to take a confirmation class these are usually offered as part of religious education programs at most parishes now since there is no set age for confirmation it varies widely depending on the diocese anywhere from infancy to 16 years of age but if you're older than that don't worry about being stuck in class with a group of teenagers many parishes offer confirmation preparation for adults as well and because this sacrament is about taking Christian values out into the world there is often a service component involved now you don't have to do all this on your own everyone preparing to be confirmed gets to choose a sponsor someone who's already confirmed and actively practicing their Catholic faith a sponsor is a sort of Mentor figure who can offer you guidance and prayers so it's probably best to choose someone who you feel comfortable talking to about spiritual matters and someone who most likely will be a part of your life after you're confirmed you might be given the option of choosing a confirmation named historically a believer received a new name to mark a new phase in their life so again this reminds us that confirmation is the start of something new usually the name chosen is that of a saint that you admire and hope to emulate this helps to deepen your bond with the larger faith community another indication that confirmation brings about a more fully realized membership in the body of Christ is that the diocesan bishop is usually the minister of this sacrament the bishops presence reminds us that those being confirmed are now sent into the world to spread the good news just as Jesus sent forth the Apostles to continue his mission now that we've talked about what confirmation is let's be sure we know what it's not confirmation is not a rite of passage it's not the same as a Bar Mitzvah or other similar coming-of-age rites for young people it's also not just another religious hoop to jump through confirmation is the completion of the grace we received at baptism and the invitation to mature in the Christian life and it's certainly not graduation from church yes confirmation completes your Christian initiation but it is just the beginning of a life of bringing the Christian message out into the world remember like all the sacraments confirmation is transformative it changes who we are and who we are capable of becoming we move from hearing God's Word to sharing it confirmation gives us the grace that makes it possible to truly live a Christian life