The sacrament of Confirmation can sometimes be challenging to understand and, even more, to explain. There are two main reasons for this:
First, sometimes we take an excessively unilateral perspective, looking at it only from our side. We tend to see it as the sacrament in which a Christian personally commits to following Jesus. While this is true, Confirmation is much more than just our commitment. Like the other sacraments, it has much more to do with God's action in us than our response.
It is true that freedom is an essential element when receiving any sacrament. Even in Baptism, which is ordinarily received as children, the parents' freedom is respected as they present their child to be baptized in the Church.
Confirmation, called "Chrismation" in the Eastern Church, is the sacrament by which we receive the Holy Spirit (God Himself) and his grace.
Our Christian life, supported and often upheld by God, is not about checking enough boxes or jumping through the right number of hoops in order to gain entrance to Heaven. It is, to use St. Paul's metaphor, a race. Anyone who has participated in a race knows it is a challenge requiring personal effort together with support from others around us.
A narrow view of Confirmation often leads candidates to feel unprepared to receive it. In part, this is true, because no one is truly prepared or "worthy" of receiving God’s grace or God Himself. He is the one who takes the initiative, filling the gaps in our readiness and enabling us to receive the help He offers through the sacraments.
So Confirmation is a profoundly necessary sacrament in our lives. It's because of our weakness and the demands of the Christian life that God offers us so many sources of support. He calls us to freely use all of them. Sacraments, and all of God’s graces, have specific and concrete purposes.
Another reason why Confirmation can be difficult to grasp is the doctrine that it "perfects" the grace we received in Baptism. Does this mean that the first sacrament of Christian life is somehow incomplete? Certainly not! Each sacrament corresponds to a stage in our natural life. The marvelous grace of Baptism needs perfecting over time. Baptism is the perfect sacrament for beginning our life in Christ, while Confirmation is suited for a later stage, as the Christian life and the person’s maturity develop. In this sense, both sacraments complement each other.
It is incredible to think that in Confirmation we receive the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Most Holy Trinity, perfect God. Jesus promised this: "If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate (the Holy Spirit) to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you" (Jn 14:15-21). This is truly awe-inspiring, and it means that we need to receive the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to perceive the world with God’s light, to understand the meaning of life, our ultimate purpose, and much more. A Christian without the Paraclete (another name for the Holy Spirit) is like someone lost in their spiritual life. The Holy Spirit doesn’t give us all the answers, but He guides us in mysterious ways, revealing the beauty of a life with Jesus.
In today’s world, Christians are surrounded by countless options and possibilities. Some are wonderful, while others are less so. Ideologies, addictions, superficial environments, and the pursuit of instant gratification can make it easy to lose focus on spiritual goals. The certainty that God is with us, and specifically that the Holy Spirit guides us, brings peace to our souls and makes us more mature and responsible.
What would happen if a mountaineer ventured into unfamiliar terrain without any tools to navigate? It would be madness. Mountain weather is notoriously unpredictable. The Holy Spirit is like our personal satellite, and Confirmation is our GPS: always working, even in the absence of a clear signal or in adverse conditions. Through Confirmation, the Paraclete guides us, orients us, and leads us to the summit, which is Heaven. And all this happens after experiencing a life full of challenges.
This sacrament also helps us to feel a stronger connection to the Church and a sense of belonging. We are part of the same team, climbing together. We are never alone in this life. To emphasize this, the sacrament is administered by the bishop, the visible head of Christ in the diocese. The baptized person is presented to the pastor by their sponsor, who supports them in their mission as a Christian. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, they are equipped to carry out their great mission on earth: to reach the summit.
This sense of belonging to the Church, made more tangible through Confirmation, allows the confirmed to understand that they are not alone and that they have a responsibility within the Church. By being confirmed, we freely take on the task of helping others on this great climb of faith. Confirmation equips us to serve. We are not isolated individuals but members of the People of God, walking together and supporting one another through our example and words of encouragement—just as good mountaineers do.
Finally, the sacrament of Confirmation is administered through an anointing with oil. The minister lays hands on the head of the confirmand, anoints their forehead with chrism in the form of a cross, and says: “By this sign, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The chrism oil is blessed by the bishop during a Holy Thursday Mass known as the Chrism Mass, celebrated with all the priests of the diocese. Made of olive oil and spices that give it a distinctive fragrance, the chrism symbolizes belonging to Christ and carries a deep biblical tradition. Altars, churches, priests’ hands, and other sacred objects are anointed. The act of anointing signifies that the person or object is dedicated to God forever.
