← The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 176: Traditions and Signs of Confirmation (2025)
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Together, with Fr. Mike, we continue our examination of the sacrament of Confirmation, specifically the two Traditions and different signs of Confirmation. Fr. Mike unpacks the differences in the two Traditions, East and West, in the celebration of Confirmation. He also explores the different signs that oil and anointing in the sacrament of Confirmation can signify. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1290-1296.
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Father Mike Schmitz
Foreign hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sure goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 176. We're reading paragraphs 201290 to 1296. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and lastly, you can click Follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is, as I said, Day 176 reading paragraphs 1290 to 1296 yesterday we started talking about the Sacrament of Confirmation. We continue today by talking about some nuts and bolts. First is that there's two traditions in the Church when it comes to the Sacrament of Confirmation. Remember, the first sacrament of initiation, what gives us new life in Christ is baptism, that we recognize that we must, we must have that Sacrament of Confirmation for the completion of baptismal grace. So in the east and in the west, two traditions developed over the course of time. One emphasized the unity of baptism and confirmation. The other emphasized the role of the bishop and the place, the office of the bishop. That's important. The first couple paragraphs we'll talk about that. We're also going to talk about the signs and the rite of confirmation. So like anointing, that there's oil, that there's a spiritual seal that is imprinted on the person. Remember, there's an indelible mark that accompanies these sacraments of baptism, of Confirmation, of Holy Orders as well. But today we're talking about Confirmation. So keep in mind all of these things. The signs and rite of Confirmation developed in two different ways in the east and west and also but they have a unity in the sense that there is the sign of anointing, there's the matter of oil, and there is this spiritual seal that is imprinted on the person who is claimed by Jesus Christ and is sealed by the Holy Spirit. And so we're talking about that today. As we do, as we dive in, let's take a moment and just pray. Father in Heaven, we give you glory and we praise your name. We thank you for the outpouring of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for the gift and the grace of confirmation. We thank you for making us your sons and daughters in baptism. And we thank you for sending us out into this world as your missionaries, for sending us out into this world as your disciples to set. For sending us out into this world as your apostles, those who are sent into this world to bring the good news. But first, Lord, before we're sent, we need to receive. We need to receive your grace. We need to receive your very essence, your very being, your Holy Spirit. So, Lord, once again pour out fresh among all of us, baptized and unbaptized, confirmed and not yet confirmed, pour out on all of us an abundance of your Holy Spirit. Because you promised you, Father would give the Holy Spirit to all of those who ask for it. Jesus, you promised that that your Father and ours would give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. And so, Father, in the name of Jesus, we're asking for that outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our lives, now and always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This is day 176. We are reading paragraphs 1290-1296. 2. Traditions east and West in the first centuries, confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with baptism forming with it a double sacrament according to the expression of St. Cyprian. Among other reasons, the multiplication of infant baptisms all through the year, the increase of rural parishes and the growth of dioceses often prevented the bishop from being present at all baptismal celebrations. In the west, the desire to reserve the completion of baptism to the bishop caused the temporal separation of the two sacraments. The east has kept them united so that confirmation is conferred by the priest who baptizes, but he can do so only with the myron consecrated by a bishop. A custom of the Roman Church facilitated the development of the Western practice. A double anointing with sacred Chrism after baptism. The first anointing of the neophyte, on coming out of the baptismal bath, was performed by the priest. It was completed by a second anointing on the forehead of the newly baptized by the bishop. The first anointing with sacred chrism by the priest has remained attached to the baptismal rite. It signifies the participation of the one baptized in the prophetic, priestly and kingly offices of Christ. If baptism is conferred on an adult, there is Only one post baptismal anointing, that of confirmation. The practice of the Eastern churches gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly expresses the communion of the new Christian with the bishop as guarantor and servant of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of his Church, and hence the connection with the apostolic origins of Christ's Church. The Signs and the Rite of Confirmation in treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints a spiritual seal. Anointing in biblical and other ancient symbolism is rich in meaning. Oil is a sign of abundance and joy. It cleanses anointing before and after a bath and limbers, the anointing of athletes and wrestlers. Oil is a sign of healing, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds and it makes radiant with beauty, health and strength. Anointing with oil has all these meanings in the sacramental life. The pre baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies cleansing and strengthening. The anointing of the sick expresses healing and comfort. The post baptismal anointing with sacred Chrism and confirmation and ordination is the sign of consecration by confirmation Christians. That is, those who are anointed share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled, so that their lives may give off the aroma of Christ. By this anointing, the confirmand receives the mark, the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal authority or ownership of an object. Hence, soldiers are marked with their leader's seal and slaves with their masters. A seal authenticates a juridical act or document and occasionally makes it secret. Christ Himself declared that he was marked with His Father's seal. Christians are also marked with a seal. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us. He has put his seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. The seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service forever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial. All right, there we have it. Paragraphs 1290-1296 that I think the historical recounting of how this sacrament developed in the east and the west is really remarkable. I don't know if you want to go back and just reread paragraph 1290 and then 1291 and 1292, but 1290 highlights this then in the east, in the east and the west, originally, here's this double sacrament, right, that St. Cyprian talks about, that baptism and confirmation would be pretty much united, but also that confirmation seems pretty much originally in the west, at least in Latin Church, kind of reserved for the bishop, right? This is the role of that successor of the apostles to impart the sacrament of confirmation on believers, on Christians. And so what happens is over the course of time, where you have infant baptisms, you have baptisms happening, happening all of the time, and the bishop can't be there all of the time. And so what happens is you get baptized right away and then later on in life there's a temporal separation, right, in time, there's an in time separation between one's baptism and one's confirmation. Because they wanted to highlight the unity of the Christian with the bishop, right? Because that's so important to highlight the unity of the Christian, the individual believer, with the body of Christ symbolized by the bishop. In the east, yes, they still had that same want desire to, to have unity that still they had that desire of. They understood the role of the bishop, but they had commissioned their priests to be able to confirm in some ways in the name of the bishop or in the place of the bishop, instead of the bishop having to be there. Of course, that sacred chrism, or Myron was blessed by the bishop just like ours is now. In the Latin Church. In the west, the sacred chrism is always blessed by the bishop of that person's diocese. And so there's always a connection, both in the east and the west there's a connection, an apostolic connection, right? A episcopal connection between the sacraments of initiation and the office or the authority of the bishop, which is remarkable. It's just developed two different ways in the east and in the West. And I love how 1292 just highlights practice in the Eastern churches, gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. So baptism and confirmation, that of the Latin Church, more clearly expresses the communion of the new Christian with the bishop. And so there's. It's just an emphasis, right? It's a difference in emphasis. And so they're both beautiful, they're both acceptable and they both bear fruit in abundant ways. Just. But they're different. And here we are different, east and West. Now the last paragraphs, 1293-1296, highlighting what it is to be anointed, remember, even just what it is to use oil. You know, it's interesting, every time over the last couple years we have a new Bishop in our diocese for. I can't call him new anymore. It's maybe three years now. But when I'm at his masses for Holy Week and his masses for, like the Chrism Mass where he. Where he blesses that oil, he will go through this parallel 1293. Not saying it's from 1293, but goes through all of the uses, the abundant uses of oil, both in the Bible and in the ancient world. And so that's what happens here in 1293. It's so cool when he talks about it because it's. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. The way in which cultures, the way in which scripture has used oil. So what does it do? It's a sign of abundance and joy that, you know, just think the scripture talks about how. I mean, the oil on one's head runs down into his. In his beard, on the. In the collar of Aaron's robes. This is the anointing oil of the priest. It's in a sign of abundance and a sign of joy. Goes on to say that oil cleanses because people, before and after a bath, they would use oil. This is a whole, whole thing, whole process. It limbers. So athletes and wrestlers would kind of warm up their bodies with oil, also be able to fight better. Because you can't get a grip on somebody when they're covered in oil. It's a sign of healing. It's soothing to bruises and wounds, and it makes radiant with beauty, health and strength. We know this because we have this right, we have a moisturizer that makes a person radiant with beauty, health and strength and has all these meanings also in the sacramental life. And I know sometimes people are like, you don't have to walk through and just tell us what you just told us. But in 1294, it does highlight some things that if we go through them too quickly, you can kind of miss some of these really important beats. So let's look at some of these beats. So all these meanings in the sacrament of Life is paragraph 1294. The pre baptismal anointing of the catechism with the oil of catechumens signifies what signifies cleansing and strengthening. So before a person is baptized, they're anointed with oil. And that part of the right talks about this transfer from being under the domain and dominion of the Evil One and being transferred into the domain of the Lord signifies cleansing and strengthening. We have the anointing of the sick. Right? That's another sacrament. The anointing of the sick used to be called last rites. It expresses Healing and comfort. Remember, oil is associated with healing and comfort. The post baptismal anointing, there's two of them. One is in confirmation or holy orders. Ordination is a sign of consecration. So a priest or bishop is ordained with that sacred chrism. They're consecrated, they're set apart for this task. God's gift saying, okay, you're being set apart to be a priest, to serve in this way, to be a bishop and serve in this way. But also the anointing with the sacred chrism and confirmation is the sign of consecration. So it's not just for priests and bishops to have that sign of consecration, of anointing. It's also for you, if you've been confirmed or if you're going to be confirmed, that anointing with sacred chrism in your confirmation is a sign of consecration. Remember we talked about this yesterday, that baptism brings us into the life of God, brings us into relationship with the Lord, brings us into the body of Christ. Confirmation sends us out, right? It sends us out into the world. Goes on to say, but confirmation Christians, that is those who are anointed, share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled. So that their lives may give off the aroma of Christ. Remember, you've been commissioned, if you've been confirmed, you have been commissioned to show more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ. What is the mission of Jesus Christ? You know, at the end of John's gospel, Jesus makes it pretty clear where he breathes on the apostles. And he tells them, he says, receive the Holy Spirit as the Father has sent me, so now I send you. He goes on to tell the give the apostles the ability to forgive sins. But to also just highlight for a moment, he says, as the Father sent me, so now I send you. And what the catechism is saying here is that by confirmation, all Christians share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled. Which means that just like Jesus had said in a similar way, not the exact way, not the exact same way, but in a very similar way that Jesus had spoken to the apostles, he speaks to every person who being confirmed saying, as the Father sent me, so I send you. So what is that? What was Jesus mission? Jesus mission of bringing hope to a world in darkness or bringing grace to a world that didn't know grace of bringing forgiveness to people that that needed forgiveness. Jesus, he brought the mercy of God to a people that needed the mercy of God. He also brought truth to those who were ignorant of truth. He also brought conviction to those who needed to be convicted. So here's Jesus, who brought both justice and mercy. Here's Jesus, who brought both faith and grace. Here's Jesus, who brought both the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the healing of the Holy Spirit. And so if that's what Jesus mission was and you're confirmed and you share more completely in the mission of Jesus, then that is what you and I are called to do as well. I want to highlight one last thing. It says that by anointing, the confirmed man receives the mark, the seal of the Holy Spirit. And it says very clearly, a seal is the symbol of a person, sign of personal authority or ownership. And so there's that sense of like, okay, if you've been claimed by the Lord, now there might be something in your heart that kind of bristles at that. If something in your heart bristles at the idea of, okay, this is a symbol of a person, sign of personal authority or ownership of an object. And then we're like, oh, I don't like that idea that, okay, God has put his mark on me and now I carry his symbol, or I carry his personal authority, or it means that he's claimed me and I belong to Him. If that makes you bristle, okay, address that, because that's what it means, right? All of us, all of us are called to walk in the Lord. All of us are called to be claimed that none of us are our own anymore. If we've been baptized and confirmed, none of us belong to ourselves anymore. We belong to Him. And there's something powerful about acknowledging that and saying, oh, that's actually true, that my life is no longer my own, that I'm no longer my own. My time is no longer my own. My will is meant to be conformed to his will. Because God the Father has claimed you, you've been marked with a special seal in baptism and in confirmation. As St. Paul said, he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. The seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service forever, as well as his promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial. So that's what it means. It means we've been claimed. It marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment, and his service forever, as well as his promise of divine protection. So to hold on to those three things, you've been claimed, you've been sealed. So I've been enrolled. I totally belong totally to Christ. You've been enrolled in his service forever. And he also has promised divine protection for you in the great eschatological trial because he's claimed you, but he also gets to be claimed by you. And that's part of the great news of our Lord Jesus. Man, what an incredible, incredible gift. Sometimes, though, sometimes it's a challenge. And we need God's grace, even just to accept the challenge. We need God's grace even to accept his message. And so we need to pray for each other. I keep forgetting, or maybe even neglecting to just remind everyone I keep asking for my prayers and let you know that I'm praying for you. But please pray for each other. Because again, we're in this together. Not just in this, in this catechism together. We're in this life together. And we're in this church together. So let's keep praying for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.