Becoming Soldiers of Christ, by Joe Sixpack

By Joe Sixpack, The Every Catholic Guy, Church Militant, November 5, 2021

Why receive confirmation?

It’s to be expected that non-Catholics are void of any understanding regarding the sacrament of confirmation. But when fellow Catholics are at a loss to explain what confirmation is and what it does, I’m just a wee bit perplexed. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case, so we’ll focus this week on one of the most exciting aspects of Catholicism.

Confirmation, according to Vatican II, is the sacrament instituted by Christ that makes baptized persons “more perfectly bound to the Church” and enriches them with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence, confirmed persons as true witnesses of Christ are “more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed.”

Confirmation increases sanctifying grace, thus making us more holy. It increases within us supernaturally infused virtues, thus making us stronger in doing good. It further gives us an increase of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord). Confirmation also imprints on each soul an indelible spiritual character and, for this reason, can’t be repeated. Best of all, it enables us to courageously profess our faith, even under the threat of death. Indeed, without confirmation, there would be far fewer martyrs in the Church’s glorious history. …

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