We must relive our baptismal and confirmational vows every day

Unlike certain forms of protestantism, where a one time altar call ostensibly automatically insures one of salvation, the Catholic Faith must be lived every day.  It is meant to be a process of growth in cooperation with Grace, sanctification, and correspondence with the Will of God.

The process, of course, starts with Baptism, and then takes another enormous leap forward with Confirmation.  These ancient Sacraments, practiced in the Church since its earliest days, are mere way points to some, and tragically quickly forgotten by most, but for the faithful Catholic they must serve as the touchstones for our constant practice of the Faith.  The promises we made (or which were made for us) at Baptism, and then again at Confirmation, were not mere one time rote statements of formula.  They must serve as the guiding stars for the conduct of our lives.

Fr. Gabriel of St.Mary Magdalen in Divine Intimacy highlights this critical fact for us:

Baptism is the Sacrament of Christian Initiation.  It introduces us into the Church, God’s great family, and infuses into our souls the new life of sanctifying Grace by which we become children of the Most High and brothers of Jesus Christ.  Confirmation confirms and strengthens this supernatural life which Baptism has engendered in us. Baptism is our Christian birth; Confirmation brings us to Christian maturity.  “Confirmation,” according to the catechism, “is the Sacrament through which the Holy Spirit comes to us in a special way to enable us to profess our faith as strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.”

At Baptism we become temples of the Holy Spirit; in Confirmation, this Divine Spirit comes to us in greater plenitude and sets us apart as knights of Christ, capable of fighting to defend our faith and the Church.  We have very great need of this Sacrament, especially today when God’s enemies and the snares and enticements of evil are increasing to such an extent that it often requires great courage, and sometimes even heroism, to stand firm in our Catholic faith and morality.  Confirmation imprints and indelible mark on our soul, the glorious character of a “soldier” of Jesus Christ. In endows us with the corresponding strength and confers on us the right to receive, at the opportune moment, the actual graces necessary to remain faithful to God, in spire of the difficulties and obstacles we may encounter. This is the “sacramental grace” of Confirmation.

Therefore we may say that, at least virtually, Confirmation is the Sacrament that consecrates the heroes and martyrs of duty, for it gives man the strength to live in open profession of his faith, even at the cost of great sacrifices, not excluding the sacrifice of his life, if this were necessary. 

When cowardice or human respect tempts us to waver, we should repeat St. Francis of Assisi’s daring words: “Knight of Christ, are you afraid?” And recalling the happy day of our Confirmation when we were solemnly consecrated a soldier of Christ, we shall find the strength to continue the battle and win.   [We cannot give up the fight.  We have been committed to Christ through Baptism and Confirmation, are strengthened by regular reception of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and we have access to the enormous Grace of Confession when we fail.  We have all we need, more than we need, a superabundance of Grace and spiritual resources that are constantly available to us if we will only cooperate with them!  We must NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT, no matter how discouraged we get, no matter how terrible things are around us, no matter how much we do it wrong. Doing it wrong is part of the process!  Go to Confession, get up, wipe yourself off, and begin anew.  It is pride that says to us that a failure is unacceptable, that it is too hard to try.  Christ understands and forgives our failures if we will only go to Him and beg His Mercy!  The rest will take care of itself. And striving to be as faithful as possible does not make one an @$$hole!]

….Let us meditate upon the the beautiful prayer recited by the bishop during the imposition of hands: “Almighty, everlasting God…..send forth upon them the Author of Thy seven-fold Gifts, the Paraclete, Thy Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety; fill them

How awesome would it be to be confirmed by Bishop Schneider?

with the Spirit of Thy holy fear, and sign them with the sign of the Cross of Christ unto eternal life.”……..if our conduct has not always born witness to Christ, this is not due to a defect in the Sacrament, but to our lack of correspondence with the Grace it conferred.  If we are weak in the struggle against our passions, the world, and the devil, it is precisely because we have not made profitable use of the Grace of fortitude which the Holy Spirit lavished upon us when we were confirmed.

Let us implore this Divine Spirit to pardon our negligence and to help us henceforth to make up for our past deficiencies. 

“O Holy Spirit, quench my thirst at the torrent of Your delights, so that I will no longer wish to taste the poisonous delights of the world.” [St. Augustine]

“Without You, I am nothing. Sine tuo numine nihil est in homine….I am worth nothing, but keep me united to You; fill me with Your love, so that, with Your help, I may remain united to the Father and the Son.” [Dom Marmion]

“I renounce satan! O my God, this was my baptismal promise, a solemn promise made in the presence of the Church, a promise so explicit that no one can dispense me from it, a promise recorded by angelic hands, a promise on which I shall be judged at the hour of my death. 

“O my God, I desire to renew very fervently that promise today.  Therefore, with all my heart and all my strength, I renounce you, O satan!  I renounce you, abominable sin; I renounce you, detestable world!

“O Lord Jesus Christ, I give myself entirely to You forever. I desire to adhere to Your Holy Doctrine by faith, and to Your sacred promises by hope, to your Divine Commandments and counsels by love and charity. I desire to follow You by the practice of all the virtues. I desire to follow You as my Head, as a living member of Your Body.” [St. John Eudes]

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We are so blessed to have such works to draw spiritual sustenance from!  Lord, thank you for your great Saints and theologians who have so blessed us with their thought, helping reveal to us the way to Heaven!