21 August, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

The Sacrament of Confirmation

1. “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?” (Job 7:1) asks the Book of Job. In fact, man’s life is a constant battle against evil. This struggle commences as soon as we reach the use of reason, when we begin to understand the difference between good and evil and feel the first strong impulses to commit sin. These sinful impulses can be controlled by the practice of virtue and by the grace of God, but we shall never be entirely free of them. Even St. Paul, although he had reached the highest peak of sanctity and had even experienced for a few moments something of the joys of Heaven, has to acknowledge that this is so in his own case. “I see another law,” he says, “warring against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 7:23-25)

In this struggle against evil we are assisted by the grace of God. This grace makes us soldiers of Jesus Christ, strengthens our faith and helps us to do good. It is conferred upon us in a special manner in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Let us meditate on the enlightening words used by the Sacred Minister when he is conferring this Sacrament. “Almighty and eternal God, Who in thy kindness hast given to these thy servants a new birth through water and the Holy Spirit, and granted to them remission of all their sins; send forth from heaven upon them Thy sevenfold Spirit, the Holy Paraclete. Amen. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Amen. The Spirit of counsel and fortitude. Amen. The Spirit of knowledge and piety. Amen. Mercifully fill them with the Spirit of Thy fear, and seal them with the sign of the cross of Christ, that they may obtain everlasting life.” (Rituale Romanum)

2. The sacramental grace which was infused in our souls along with the gifts of the Holy Spirit imposes certain obligations upon us. We are to be soldiers of Christ and should hold aloft the standard of our faith. We should never be ashamed to be known as Christians either in private or in public. We must cast aside that human respect which can prevent Christians from openly professing their faith. There should be no conflict, in other words, between the convictions which we hold in private and those which we acknowledge in public. Let us examine ourselves on this point and rely on the graces which we received in the Sacrament of Confirmation to strengthen our good resolutions.

3. As well as being brave soldiers of Christ in the profession of our faith, we should be equally so in our actions. It is God’s will that we should always have to co-operate with His grace by our own deeds. “By the grace of God,” writes St. Paul, “I am what I am, and his grace in me has not been fruitless – in fact, I have laboured more than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (Cf. I Cor. 15:10)

We can do nothing on our own, but with the grace of God anything is possible to us. The Sacrament of Confirmation obliges us to work strenuously and constantly in collaboration with God. There may be grave temptations to be conquered, difficulties to be overcome, and sufferings to be endured; but with the grace of God we can do anything. To quote St. Paul again, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)