Happy Lord’s Day!

‘Tis the season of Holy Days of Obligation. We have another one coming up on Thursday of this week, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th). We’ll have the same Mass schedule that we had for All Saints’ Day: Mass at St. Ann’s in Goodridge on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m.; at St. Francis’ in Oklee on Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m.; and at St. Clement’s in Grygla on Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. Your attendance at one of these (or at another Catholic parish) is expected. If you have to work or be at school, your employer/school is required by law to allow you time to attend Mass, since this is a religious obligation. I know this can seem quite inconvenient, and so there is a temptation to just not attend Mass on these extra days, but sometimes we have to let the demands of the Lord be inconvenient for us. It will all be worth it in the end.

Our sacramental focus this week is the Sacrament of Confirmation, the second Sacrament of Initiation. Most often today, we see the reception of Holy Communion as the second Sacrament of Initiation to be received, but historically this has not been the most common practice. I know I even wrote about the Eucharist second, but it’s important to note that the reception of the Eucharist has historically been understood to be the completion of initiation into the Catholic Church. Maybe some of us remember this being the case.

This is one of those sacraments that is a bit unclear in its Scriptural origins, but there are certainly some strong hints of its presence in the Acts of the Apostles and in the life of the early Church. It is a sacrament with a lot of power attached to it, which is the intention of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions that the Sacrament of Confirmation binds baptized Christians more perfectly to the Church and gives them a special strength of the Holy Spirit. So often we approach the reception of Confirmation as something of a “graduation” from faith formation classes, but this description actually suggests we should approach this sacrament in such a way that we’re sent on mission for the Kingdom of God. Instead of easing back, we ought to understand that now we have a greater responsibility to spread the Catholic faith by our words and our deeds. I’m often reminded of the words of Peter Parker’s uncle, Ben: With great power comes great responsibility. This sacrament gives us the power of the Holy Spirit - nothing on earth could possibly match that power - which means our responsibility to use that power appropriately only grows with it.

The primary sign of this sacrament comes in the anointing with the Sacred Chrism. Oil can be understood to give something of a seal of approval. Those who are anointed with this oil can understand that their soul is sealed, marked permanently as belonging to Jesus. Oil also has historically been used to make an athlete limber, ready for whatever physical challenges await. So for those who receive Confirmation, it makes them ready for whatever spiritual challenges await. (Maybe from this we can see that this Sacrament is not so much about our choice to “confirm” our faith in Jesus, but instead this is about his choice to strengthen us.) The sign is the anointing with oil and the grace is the power received to be even more connected to Christ and his Church.

In the Bible, we hear Jesus speak about how he will send the Holy Spirit, which he does in Acts chapter 2. There is a strong reference to Confirmation in Acts chapter 8. Some people are baptized by the deacon Philip, but only the Apostles can give this greater gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of their hands. This shows two distinct actions - the first, Baptism, is done by any minister of the Church; the second, Confirmation, can only be done by the Apostles. Today, we know that bishops are successors to the Apostles. They are the ordinary ministers of the Sacrament of Confirmation (they can give that power to their priests, if they so choose).

May the Lord give you his peace!
Fr. Bryan

This page will include the weekly Clergy Column found in the bulletin, as well as some other pieces of literature Fr. Bryan or others may write. You can access past articles by clicking on the boxes on the right of this page.

The Catholic Parishes of Oklee, Grygla, and Goodridge