The relationship between Confirmation and Baptism

[myway22883]

In teaching my 7th graders about Confirmation, I have proposed the following:

In our Baptism, we become life-long disciples of Christ;
In our Confirmation, we become life-long apostles of Christ.

Understanding all that I have read and learned of these two sacraments, Baptism brings us into the Body of Christ, and Confirmation, through the impression of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, confirms us in our mission to spread His gospel.

I know I am not capturing ALL of the implications of these two sacraments, but would you say there is anything incorrect about what I am teaching?

Thanks

 

[Momofmyangels]

In teaching my 7th graders about Confirmation, I have proposed the following:

In our Baptism, we become life-long disciples of Christ;
In our Confirmation, we become life-long apostles of Christ.

Understanding all that I have read and learned of these two sacraments, Baptism brings us into the Body of Christ, and Confirmation, through the impression of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, confirms us in our mission to spread His gospel.

I know I am not capturing ALL of the implications of these two sacraments, but would you say there is anything incorrect about what I am teaching?

Thanks

You are correct here, as well as thinking that there is so much more. 7th graders are capable of understanding and should be presented with a much more in-depth discussion of these two sacraments.

Baptism, while being a sacrament of the dead, infuses the soul with sanctifying grace and you are right, makes us members of the Catholic Church. It imprints a permanent mark on our souls that we do in fact belong to the Church and are subject to its rules. Without this sacrament, we would be unable to receive any of the other sacraments.

Confirmation, a sacrament of the living, increases sanctifying grace in the soul as well as providing sacramental grace. It also imprints a lasting mark on the soul as well as giving us the power (as it did the apostles) to grow in grace and gives us the strength to live our lives faithfully and as you said to not only spread the faith, but to defend it loyally and courageously.

Good luck with your teaching!

 

[laszlo]

In teaching my 7th graders about Confirmation, I have proposed the following:

In our Baptism, we become life-long disciples of Christ;
In our Confirmation, we become life-long apostles of Christ.

Understanding all that I have read and learned of these two sacraments, Baptism brings us into the Body of Christ, and Confirmation, through the impression of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, confirms us in our mission to spread His gospel.

I know I am not capturing ALL of the implications of these two sacraments, but would you say there is anything incorrect about what I am teaching?

Thanks

Since our Church is ‘Apostolic’, and the Apostlolicity means the hierarchy, I would not use the word apostles, related to the confirmation.

The traditional teaching is that the Confirmation makes us soldiers of the Church, and the matter is oil, as the ancient soldiers were ‘oiled’ to easier escape from their enemies. The confirmation makes us adult Christians.