Anointed in the Spirit Candidate Handbook - Saint Mary's Press

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1The Seven SacramentsConfirmation is one of the Church’s Seven Sacraments.The other six are Baptism, the Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation,Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.The Sacraments bring us face to face with God. Wedon’t literally “see” God in a visual way, but we know he iswith us and loves us. We call this relationship with Godgrace. We encounter grace most fully in the Sacraments.Through grace we participate in God’s divine life, the life ofthe Trinity. It is pure love between the Father and the Sonpoured out to us by the Holy Spirit. When we celebrate theSacraments with the required disposition, an attitude ofopenness to God’s love, we are able to recognize his presencemore clearly. The Sacraments truly make present thegraces that they signify. For example, in Baptism, the personreally becomes a new creation.The Sacraments are gifts from Christ, who institutedthem. The Gospels show us how he established the meaningof each Sacrament and commissioned his disciples tocelebrate them.The Sacraments fall into three categories:1. Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist are theSacraments of Christian Initiation because they are thefoundation of Christian life. Baptism is celebrated firstbecause it makes us members of Christ and part of theChurch (see John 3:5 and Matthew 28:19). Confirmationstrengthens us and is necessary to complete baptismalgrace (see Acts of the Apostles 8:14–17). TheEucharist nourishes us with Christ’s Body and Bloodand completes Christian initiation. It is the high pointof Christian life and all the Sacraments are oriented towardit (see Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke22:14–20; and John, chapter 6).2. Anointing of the Sick and Penance and Reconciliationare the Sacraments of Healing because through themthe Church continues Jesus’ mission to heal and forgivesins (see James 5:14–15 and John 20:22–23).3. Holy Orders and Matrimony are the Sacraments at theService of Communion. These Sacraments contribute tothe Church’s mission primarily through service to others(see Matthew 16:18–19; Matthew 28:19–20; Mark3:14–19; Matthew 19:1–15; and John 2:1–11).You’re a Candidate Now 21Being a Candidate 21
Confirmation during the Teen YearsJesus of Nazareth1It was Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph andMary, who called Zacchaeus down fromthe tree. Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary guypassing through Jericho, even though hemay have looked like one. He had a humannature, like ours. He experienced pain, joy,loneliness, and love. He laughed and cried.He went through childhood, adolescence,and all the periods of human development,like us. We can imagine him as a youthhanging out with friends and learning carpentryfrom Joseph.Jesus is fully human, like all of us, excepthe did not sin. But there is muchmore to understanding Jesus’ identity. Heis a divine Person, the second Person ofthe Trinity, who took on a human nature.That doesn’t mean he is half man and halfGod. “He became truly man while remainingtruly God. Jesus Christ is true God andtrue man” (Catechism of the Catholic Church[CCC], 464).22 Anointed in the Spirit: Chapter 1Most Confirmation candidates in the United States celebrated Baptismas babies and the Eucharist at around age seven or grade two,and then celebrate Confirmation during the middle school or highschool years. The celebration follows the Rite of Confirmation, whichis what the Church calls the official Confirmation ceremony. TheAnointed in the Spirit program will help you prepare by walking youthrough various parts of the Rite of Confirmation and helping youexplore its rich meaning and significance. Our walk-through of therite begins in this chapter with the Presentation of the Candidates.Presentation of the CandidatesConfirmation is normally celebrated within the Mass. This helps toshow the connection between Confirmation and the other two Sacramentsof Christian Initiation, Baptism and the Eucharist. Whethercelebrated within or outside of the Mass, however, there is a celebrationof the Word, called the Liturgy of the Word, before the Riteof Confirmation. Hearing the Word is important because the HolySpirit flows out among all the people gathered and makes God’swill known in their lives.After the proclamation of the Gospel, the Confirmation Rite itselfbegins with the Presentation of the Candidates. The bishop sitsdown instead of immediately beginning the homily, and the candidatesare then presented to him by a leader in the community, suchas a priest, deacon, or catechist.
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