J
JimG
Guest
Confirmation is one of the sacraments which imprints an idelible character on your soul. Your soul will be eternally marked as Baptized and Confirmed.
- Status
E
edward_george1
Guest
My goddaughter and her two little sisters were all confirmed minutes after their baptisms, all infants at the time. This is the ancient practice and is still done in the Eastern Churches. If there was some reason to think this didn’t work, we should expect to see ancient objections to it. They’re all as confirmed as any teenager is.
A
annad347
Guest
I’m not questioning the Sacrament, but the a person doesn’t need to consent part…
I get if the priest doesn’t know the person is being forced to participate in the Sacrament, he’d still perform the Sacrament, he’s not mind readers…
I’m just wondering about the part that you don’t need to consent for the Sacrament to be valid.
I thought (as in my case, at least from what I remember, it was a long time ago), your Confirmation was what should have happen when you are baptized, you are dying to be reborn in Christ. Reconfirming your relationship with God, acknowledging Jesus as your Lord and Savior, receiving (or reactivating) the Holy Spirit you were gifted as a baby. I guess that’s not what happens in a Confirmation…
When I did my Confirmation it was something I wanted to do, something I chose to do, it was reconnecting my relationship with God, I knew I belonged to Him, but it happened so long ago I might be remembering it wrong… that’s a shame.
How can you still be the same person you were before your Confirmation, after your Confirmation without consenting to be born again?
I get if the priest doesn’t know the person is being forced to participate in the Sacrament, he’d still perform the Sacrament, he’s not mind readers…
I’m just wondering about the part that you don’t need to consent for the Sacrament to be valid.
I thought (as in my case, at least from what I remember, it was a long time ago), your Confirmation was what should have happen when you are baptized, you are dying to be reborn in Christ. Reconfirming your relationship with God, acknowledging Jesus as your Lord and Savior, receiving (or reactivating) the Holy Spirit you were gifted as a baby. I guess that’s not what happens in a Confirmation…
When I did my Confirmation it was something I wanted to do, something I chose to do, it was reconnecting my relationship with God, I knew I belonged to Him, but it happened so long ago I might be remembering it wrong… that’s a shame.
How can you still be the same person you were before your Confirmation, after your Confirmation without consenting to be born again?
Last edited:
J
JimG
Guest
You are born again of water and the Spirit at Baptism, which makes you a child of God and a member of the Church. Confirmation completes baptism and confers the gifts of the Holy Spirit along with sanctifying grace and the sacramental graces of Confirmation.
R
redcatholic
Guest
Wouldn’t even have this issue if your confirmation was before your unbelief.
T
ThomasMT
Guest
I’m not sure about the reasoning of that one. One can receive it under duress, such as by pressure from parents.
Last edited:
M
Montrose
Guest
I would say you are an official member of the Catholic Church at baptism. Confirmation brings you deeper into the Church which you are already an official member of.
A
annad347
Guest
Still makes no sense if you don’t consent… you can’t force some to be a member of a church, or accept God if they don’t want too.
When you’re baptized as a baby your not consenting then either. You’re a baby, which is why I truly believed your Confirmation was so important, but if its valid without your consent, valid even with our a rebirth a change of your heart, what’s the point… you have what need from God when you were baptized as a baby, why do it again?
I kind of thought if at some point when the priest found out the person who was doing their Confirmation didn’t want too, was forced too, before or after he would do something about it, does he?
M
Montrose
Guest
I was not making any comment on that. I was responding to the poster who said Confirmation makes one an official member of the Catholic Church.
A
annad347
Guest
Oh… sorry, @ Montrose 
Last edited:
U
Usige
Guest
Confirmation only requires consent to be licit, but it does not impact validity. So the question is why?
The sacrament of confirmation is God placing his seal upon the confirmandi. It is God who is claiming them to strengthen them to fulfill His commission. We are reborn through baptism, not confirmation. Strictly speaking, confirmation has zero to do with our commitment to God and everything to do with His commitment to us.
An imperfect analogy is something like this. You become the citizen of a country with compulsory military service. When you reach the age of service you don’t want to serve. Whether you desire to serve or not is inconsequential. That country is entrusting you to carryout its mandate in the world.
J
Jen7
Guest
I think I’m past times the parish priest would speak with each candidate ahead of time personally to determine if they were ready. It’s certainly not done anymore now.
1
1ke
Guest
This is accurate. Consent is not required for validity of the sacrament. Consent only goes towards the licit (i.e. in accordance with the Church’s law) administration of Confirmation.
No. You are reborn of water and the Spirit in baptism. Not Confirmation. A baptized person has already received the Holy Spirit and is 100% a Christian, a member of the Body of Christ.
Confirmation is none of these things, per se. You already have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit received at baptism.
While you do affirm your baptismal promises during the Rite (and we all do that every Easter), Confirmation itself is the act of the Bishop confirming your baptism with the laying on of hands and anointing. You receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
You don’t consent to be “born again” in Confirmation. That happens at baptism.
But what you are talking about is the efficacy of the sacrament. And if you are actively working against the grace you are give, or are in a state of mortal sin, then the graces of the sacrament are not received, but the sacrament itself certainly is.
They already ARE a member of the Church by virtue of their baptism.
The parents consent.
Confirmation confirms your baptism. You can reject the graces, sure.
The pastor would counsel the individual and possibly recommend delaying confirmation. If he found out after, no there isn’t anything to be done except encourage the person in their faith.
J
JimG
Guest
Looking back at the original post, I am still rather astonished that some would not desire to receive the graces of Confirmation. It seems rather like being advised by your fiduciary that you are now entitled to take personal possession of a huge inheritance, but respond, ‘no, I don’t care about any of that.’
A
Anne1964
Guest
This is done at every parish in my diocese and is a requirement prior to confirmation.
I meant to say this is a requirement of my Diocese.
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself
Patron
I don’t remember any such interview with Confirmation candidates being done in my day.
Perhaps the practices vary by diocese.
Perhaps the practices vary by diocese.
Last edited:
O
OKComputer
Guest
I’ve wondered this as well. I was confirmed with students who had no idea what the sacrament meant. One girl was an out lesbian. I think most kids did it just to appease their parents or because of family pressure.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
I daresay I didn’t have a great handle on it myself. I knew it was a calling down of the Holy Spirit upon you to give you grace like the Apostles experienced at Pentecost. But I thought it was so you could take your place as an adult member of the Church, like you were consciously affirming your baptism because you couldn’t do that as a baby. Our confirmation prep was not great, and at age 13 I was more focused on my first pair of heeled strappy shoes I’d just gotten for the occasion and how I was going to walk up and down the church aisle in them without tripping.
At the time there was a ton of YA fiction about Jewish kids and for years I thought Confirmation was like Bar Mitzvah for Catholics.
Last edited:
I had never thought of it this way before. Up until fairly recently, I thought of it as a kind of “Catholic bar mitzvah”, where the young person publicly professes his faith, and takes on the responsibilities of an adult Catholic. The Eastern practice never quite made sense to me, until you explained confirmation in this way. Thank you.annad347:
Confirmation is none of these things, per se. You already have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit received at baptism.
While you do affirm your baptismal promises during the Rite (and we all do that every Easter), Confirmation itself is the act of the Bishop confirming your baptism with the laying on of hands and anointing. You receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Still, though, if a young Catholic, possessed of reason and free will, simply does not believe and refuses the sacrament, I don’t think they should be forced to receive it. It would be no more admissible than, if through some misadventure their baptism had never taken place as an infant, they would be forced to be baptized by the parents. Regrettably, in cases such as these, the parents must respect their youngster’s decision, even if it is a bad decision.
O
OKComputer
Guest
I totally agree. I don’t think I did either, looking back.
I didn’t have a choice in the matter, even though I was told I had a choice. I was getting confirmed no matter what.
- Status