A Reflection on the Sacrament of Confirmation

In a few weeks, I will become fully initiated in the Catholic Church through the sacrament of confirmation. As I was trying to spiritually prepare for this milestone, I realized I did not really know how. To me, the Holy Spirit has always been the most mysterious person of the Trinity and I struggled to understand what receiving him meant for my soul and everyday life. I spoke with my priest and he shared with me some really helpful insights and analogies about the sacrament that I will write down here.

Warship Analogy

First, at baptism, we can imagine that the Lord has given us a sailboat. We can control it freely and it will keep us safe and afloat as long as we stay in calm waters close to the shore. If, however, we take our little sailboat into the deep ocean, amidst the harsh waves and fierce storms, as soon as trouble hits, we will be knocked over and drowned.

In this analogy then, we can look at the sacrament of confirmation as upgrading our humble sailboat into a massive warship. This ship is built to weather strong storms and any attacks plotted against it. Where the sailboat sank, the warship braces through. This is the level of strength we receive through confirmation. The Holy Spirit leaves an indelible mark on our soul and becomes more alive and more connected with our humanity, making us more equipped to stand firm in our faith even when faced with scrutiny and suffering.

God Loves the Ordinary

Still, I wondered how I was supposed to apply this to my everyday life. I can only be confirmed once, so how do I make sure I get every possible grace available from this once in a lifetime event? The simple phrase, "God loves the ordinary," brought me a lot of peace and clarity on the matter.

My priest explained to me that the Holy Spirit works through us in almost completely unnoticeable ways. When we want to clean the house for the sake of our loved one, or read a book about a saint we find interesting, this is proof that the Holy Spirit is alive and active within us. These ideas may seem like they originate from our own volition, but it is actually the workings of the Spirit that move us to do them. The Holy Spirit does not wish to control us or micromanage us into being virtuous beings, he wants to interweave himself into our personalities and show himself through our simple everyday acts of charity.

Virtue is like Gravity

Another helpful analogy my priest shared with me was to picture virtue as gravity. The more we practice it, the heavier it gets. If you are in line at a grocery store and the person in front of you drops a one hundred dollar bill on the ground, what would you do? If you practiced the virtue of justice your whole life, by being fair and honest in every possible situation, then you will feel a strong pull to immediately pick up the money and return it to its owner. If, however, you never cared to be fair or honest before, you would feel absolutely no obligation to return the lost money, and instead you would take it for yourself without any guilt.

The gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit help us to slowly become better Christians and increase the gravitational pull that makes us want to do the right thing.

"Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." Phillipians 4:9

A Sacrament for the Church

With all of these teachings in mind, it became easier for me to grasp the idea that "confirmation is a sacrament for the Church," and not just for me. By being baptized, receiving the Eucharist, and getting confirmed, one becomes fully initiated into the Church. Confirmation binds us more perfectly to the Church and equips us for public witness. Confirmation strengthens the recipient thus strengthening the entire Body of Christ.