The final sacrament of initiation, Confirmation sees the baptized person sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But with these gifts comes the responsibility of service to the Body of Christ.  Historically, the Old Testament spoke of God’s spirit and how the Messiah would use the Spirit to help with his mission and infact that’s what the person being Confirmed is to do, continue the Mission of Christ.

The Holy Spirit, third person of the Trinity for all Trinitarian based religions, played a huge role in Salvation history. Jesus himself was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus during Baptism. And Jesus promised that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles and therefore the entire Church after his death. And of course, The Spirit gloriously participated in the raising Christ from the dead by the Father, with the power of the Holy Spirit, all three parts of the Trinity actively working together for the salvation of mankind.

The person receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation is always a baptized person. They may be a young adult or maybe a person coming into the church through the RCIA. Or, they may be a person raised Catholic and for some reason did not receive Confirmation when they were younger. Those individuals come into the church at Pentecost Sunday. For young adults it is the present policy of the church to Confirm children when they are the age of discretion, or the age of reason. Presently the church considers that to be the age of 16. Historically, this age has been moved and in the United States, it can change from Bishop to Bishop and Dioceses to Dioceses. Other requirements are that the candidate for Confirmation be in a state of grace, that is without serious sin. It is imperative that the candidate receive the sacrament of Reconciliation prior to the day they are to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The church views Confirmation as a very essential sacrament and that every baptized person can and should be confirmed. In fact the catechism says that the faithful is obligated to receive this sacrament at the appropriate time. (CCC No. 1306).  The Catechism also says that this is the case because there is a unity between Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation, also the three sacraments of initiation.

The candidates must also be willing to accept what is asked of them. Confirmation is a sacrament of great responsibility. In baptism because most candidates are babies or very young, their God parents stand up for them and answer for them. Basically in Confirmation, each candidate is answering those questions for themselves. Its is vitally important that each candidate fully understand that they are committing themselves to.

The church asks that the candidate gain a more intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit and become familiar with his gifts, his actions and his biddings so the candidate can be more able to assume apostolic responsibilities of being a Christian, not just a Catholic. In that sense the preparation for Confirmation may be asked to perform community service type actions which mimic the Holy Spirit.

The perpetration for and receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation are an integral  part of being a member or the catholic (universal) church.