At Mass this morning, I was a little surprised to see extra chairs put out inside the church, as though they were expecting a Christmas or Easter crowd. The surprise only lasted a minute until I noticed a bunch of 13 and 14 year old kids in the “crying room” all dressed up. I turned to Alicia and said, “Oh, it’s probably Confirmation!” Sure enough, a few minutes later I saw Bishop Blaire in the back of the church getting ready for the procession.
I know that Easter is the traditional time for bestowing the Sacraments, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. What surprises me is why the Holy Spirit wants me to witness so many of them lately. I have been to 4 different Confirmation ceremonies (quite by accident) at 4 different churches in 4 different cities in the last 4 weeks!
Today was by far the largest. There were probably 35 kids being confirmed. It was a nice ceremony (within the rubrics of the Mass, of course), with His Eminence “interviewing” a couple of the confirmands (with just a little embarrassment on their part) on why they wanted to be confirmed in the faith, and what happened during Confirmation. They were actually leading questions wherein he provided the answer he wanted as he asked them. I told Alicia it was a “lightweight” interview compared to the interviews we received at my confirmation way back when. Bishop Manning must have singled out 10 of us (we had a Confirmation class of close to 50) when I was confirmed. The question I had to answer, without hints, was “Can the Pope ever make a mistake?” It’s a good thing my teacher had prepped us for that question! (By the way, the answer is yes, he can make a mistake—unless it’s a matter of faith or morals and working in conjunction with the Magisterium). When the 2 interviews were done, Bishop Blaire gave each of them (a boy and a girl) a little box that I assume was a rosary. It was a nice gesture.
Just before the Prayer of the Faithful, the actual blessings with the chrism oil and descent of the Holy Spirit upon each of them began. I started to cry! I looked up at Bishop Blaire and imagined him to be St. Peter confirming those first Christians that we read about in the Acts of the Apostles. The words, “3,000 more were added to the Church that day….”, were all that I could think about! I felt like a kid, playing make-believe, but with the knowledge that there was a true power at work here. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving throughout the church—Much, much more that I usually do!
Lorenzo probably wouldn't admit it to anyone, but I know it was impressive to him, as well because he turned to me and asked, "When can Lily be confirmed?" I reminded him that it's usually around the 7th or 8th grade, when the Grace that was requested by the parents and Godparents at Baptism are accepted and strengthened or (God forbid)rejected through the child's own free will, because that's the age the Church considers to be the age that a kid can make a decision so crucial to their salvation.
The other Confirmations I have attended in the last few weeks didn’t hit me as powerfully as today’s—I wonder if it’s because of the numbers. In any event I praise God for sending His Holy Spirit among us as Jesus promised just before He ascended to the right hand of His Father. It was a great day!
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