Confirmation Experience

In order to learn more about the Sacrament of Confirmation, I interviewed my brother Joe about his experience six years ago. Cardinal DiNardo, an ordinary minster for Confirmation, presided over the Mass. During the homily, the Cardinal stressed the importance of each person using the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a guide to live out his or her Catholic faith. After Joe spent more than a year taking classes at St. Thomas More, the thought of becoming fully initiated into the Church finally felt real to him. Joe said that he felt nervous as he stood to confirm his baptismal vows. Now, he received the powerful opportunity to say "I do" towards rejecting Satan and believing in the Trinity, reaffirming the words of his godparents 16 years before at his Baptism. As the rite progressed, the altar servers delivered the oil of Chrism, the matter of the Sacrament, to Cardinal DiNardo for preparation. My brother 's middle pew eventually rose and joined the long line. The wait seemed like an eternity because his mind meditated on his memories of first Communion and Reconciliation. But Confirmation struck him on a much greater level due to the fact that he can

Throughout our interview, he emphasized the unity that he sensed between Cardinal DiNardo, his sponsor, and himself. When his sponsor put his hand on Joe 's shoulder and the Cardinal anointed him with oil, Joe appreciated the beauty of this moment. With a bishop and close family friend touching him and hundreds of strangers observing this moment, he said that was the closest he ever felt with members of the Catholic Church. Because of this strength from the Holy Spirit received at Confirmation, he reminds himself that he 's never alone on his journey to Heaven. He always has priests and fellow Church members to remind him of the joy of Christianity that he experienced on his Confirmation