What Are You Looking For? Part 2: The Liturgy and the Sacraments

Confirmation: The Effects

Confirmation: The Effects

                I have said repeatedly that the Sacrament of Confirmation is the same as the Baptism in the Holy Spirit spoken of in the book of Acts.  It’s the same Baptism of the Spirit Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus, when he said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” (John 3: 5 NABRE) It’s the outpouring promised by the prophet Joel. 

                Now for those of you who may be reading this who are from a Pentecostal tradition, or a Protestant Charismatic tradition, if you have ever been to a Catholic Confirmation Mass, it’s not what you would expect to see (or hear).  In my experience, the Holy Spirit works a lot…quieter in the Catholic Church.  The Confirmation Mass is a very holy, quiet event, the culmination of which is the Eucharist.  It’s very reverent.  In fact, in my experience, all Catholic Masses are that way.

                This is very different from what you would experience in the Protestant world at a service whose direct purpose is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  In the Protestant world, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is always accompanied by the initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues.  Always.  If you don’t speak in tongues when you ask for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, when someone lays their hands on you and anoints you with olive oil, then you did something wrong.  “You” got in the way.  You stopped the flow of the Spirit.

                The problem with this is that it limits the Holy Spirit and it negates all the times God promises if we ask, we shall receive.  And how would he not, why would he not, pour out his Spirit on anyone who asks?

                In a Catholic Confirmation Mass, you will never hear someone speak in tongues during the Mass.  Or any Mass, for that matter.  You probably will during a Charismatic prayer service, for example, but not during Mass.  Even if someone at a Confirmation Mass does speak in tongues (guilty), you won’t hear them.  Like I said, the Holy Spirit is a lot quieter in the Catholic Church. 

                So what does happen when Catholics receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation?  They receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.  They also receive the fruits of the Spirit, which like the gifts grow in us as we grow.  The Tradition of the Church lists twelve fruits of the Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity.

                What about the others?  Those are the charisms of the Holy Spirit, or the charismatic gifts.  Some of these are listed by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.  To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.”  This is the list most charismatic Protestants are familiar with.  These are given by the Spirit to different people at different times for different purposes.  But they are not initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

                Which may lead some to question, what the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was.  If the Baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at Confirmation, then what happened then, and continues to happen today?  It’s quite simple.  In my humble opinion, what happens when those charisms suddenly begin operating in a person’s life, it is because they have asked, not for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit but because they have asked for a fresh Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  We find evidence of this happening in Acts 4 when Peter and John and the whole community are praying after they have been told to stop preaching.  “’And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth [your] hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’  As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4: 29:31 NABRE)  Since this was after Pentecost, they were all already baptized in the Holy Spirit.  What they received was a fresh baptism, a renewal of the Spirit, a fresh anointing. 

For Catholics, that is what happens.  And it doesn’t happen just once.  Every time we ask for that refreshing of the Spirit, for that fresh Baptism, for that renewal, it happens.  It may not happen with the initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues, however.  St. Paul never says all will speak in tongues.  He says that is a gift given to some.  Some are given another gift.  All are given some gift.  It’s up to us to use them. 

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit given at Confirmation isn’t something we receive just so we can be “done”.  The purpose is to strengthen us.  To make us bold witnesses for our faith.  So we can bring the light of Christ to a darkened world.  If we are having a tough time doing that, maybe we all need to pray like Peter and John that the Lord would “enable your servants to speak with boldness, as you stretch forth [your] hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  Maybe we all need a fresh anointing. Maybe we all need renewal of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit who already dwells within us, and is just waiting for us to ask.