Pope at Audience: Confirmation communicates Holy Spirit's abundant gifts

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

This imminent Jubilee Year, let's be renewed and empowered by the Holy Spirit and bear His gifts in all we do...

Pope Francis offered this encouragement to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square during his Wednesday General Audience.

As he continued his catechesis series on the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, the Pope focused on the gift of the Spirit received in the sacrament of Confirmation. 

In the New Testament, beyond baptism with water, the Pope observed that we see another rite, namely the imposition of hands, "which has the purpose of communicating the Holy Spirit visibly and in a charismatic way," a gesture with "effects analogous to those produced by the Apostles at Pentecost."

Holy Spirit's abundant gifts

The Holy Father went on to recall the "very simple and clear way" the Catechism of adults of the Italian Episcopal Conference speaks about the sacrament, stating: “Confirmation is for all the faithful what Pentecost was for the entire Church. … It strengthens the baptismal incorporation into Christ and the Church and the consecration to the prophetic, royal and priestly mission."

With this in mind, the Pope underscored how the sacrament communicates the abundance of the gifts of the Spirit.

"Therefore, if Baptism is the Sacrament of birth, then Confirmation is the Sacrament of growth," he said. "For this very reason," he insisted, "it is also the Sacrament of witness, because this is closely linked to the maturity of Christian existence.”

Don't reduce sacrament

The Pope warned against "reducing" Confirmation "in practice," to “last rites”, that is the "Sacrament of 'departure' from the Church," because rather it "is the Sacrament of the beginning of an active participation in its life."

"It is a milestone that can seem impossible, given the current situation throughout the Church," he said, "but," he clarified, "this does not mean that we should stop pursuing it."

He acknowledged it will not be the case for all Confirmands, whether they be children or adults, but, regardless, he said, "it is important that it is at least for some who will then go on to be the animators of the community."

For this purpose, he said, it can be useful to welcome the help of lay faithful who have had a personal encounter with Christ, and have had a true experience of the Spirit, in preparing for the sacrament.

Christ's true witnesses

In this sacrament's laying on of hands, the Pope recalled we receive the indelible seal of the Holy Spirit which emboldens us to spread and defend the faith as Christ’s true witnesses in the world. 

Pope Francis at General Audience

Moreover, he reminded that Confirmation increases and deepens the life of the Spirit poured out upon us at Baptism and encourages us, and especially the young people who receive the sacrament, to actively engage in the life and mission of the Church. 

Goal for Jubilee Year

Pope Francis recalled how St. Paul urged his disciple Timothy to "rekindle the gift of God, received through the laying on of hands," and observed that the verb used "suggests the image of one who blows on the fire to rekindle its flame."

"Here," Pope Francis marveled before concluding his remarks, "is a beautiful goal for the Jubilee Year: to remove the ashes of habit and disengagement, to become, like the torchbearers at the Olympics, bearers of the flame of the Spirit."

One can read Pope Francis' Full Remarks at the General Audience by clicking HERE: