Come, Holy Spirit!

Teens tell why they seek Confirmation

By Rich Reece

On a Sunday evening in March, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge was scheduled to celebrate Mass with the youth of St. Peter Parish in Greenville, followed by a chance to speak and meet with the youngsters. At the same time, the UNC Tar Heels were scheduled to play basketball with Oklahoma for the chance to be in the NCAA Final Four. There was speculation about the drawing power of the religious event versus the athletic one.

The verdict was quickly in, though, as more than 300 youth and their family members arrived for Mass. Afterwards, in the school gym decorated in a coffee house motif, the young people posed questions to Bishop Burbidge. Some of the questions reflected how all youth are searching to understand their faith, and an observer could see that all of the youth took the answers seriously.

Especially attentive were those who were preparing for or had recently received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Their expressions said that their Catholic faith matters to them, matters enough for them to undergo two years of study and service in preparation for the Sacrament.

Why be confirmed? The Church teaches that the sacrament brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:

it roots us more deeply in our role as God’s children
it unites us more firmly to Christ;
it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.

Robert Davis, 17, saw the Sacrament as the culmination of a lifetime, until now, of Catholic practice and guidance from his family. “It’s a huge step,” he said, “in confirming that you are going to be and stay Catholic.” He said that becoming better informed about his faith had changed him as a person. “A relationship with God is number one in my life right now,” he said. Change isn’t easy, he admitted. He believed the toughest part of preparation for Confirmation was commitment. Like many teenagers, Robert has a busy schedule, and finding the time and the will to be heavily involved in church is a challenge. “I know, though,” he explained, “that this involvement makes me a better person.”

Becca Morris, who was confirmed in 2008, echoed Robert’s sentiments. “Confirmation is something you have to accept for yourself,” she said. Her mother, Carolyn, saw her daughter arrive at this realization. “She started out lukewarm,” Carolyn said, “but went from seeing Confirmation as something she had to do to something she wanted to do. At some point you could see that she actually realized what Confirmation meant to her journey to adulthood in the Church.” Part of Becca’s adult Catholicism now is serving next to her mom as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion.

The achievement of Catholic maturity was a “dream” for Hannah Daly, who will be confirmed this year. “I’ve been a member of St. Peter’s since I was little,” she said, “and I’ve watched my parents’ dedication and wanted to be like them.” Hannah said that the most difficult part of the journey was keeping her focus on the Lord. “The toughest thing,” she said, “is trying to keep my mind in the right place and remembering God is with me. Sometimes I will stray and feel like I’ve let Him down, but I know He is always there, loving me.”

Part of the preparation for all confirmation candidates in the Diocese of Raleigh is service. At St. Peter, youth have a special opportunity to serve each year on parish mission trips to Passionist missions in Pittsburgh or West Virginia. Robert, Becca and Hannah have all participated on these trips. Hannah has been on four mission trips. “This year we rebuilt a stone wall for a man in West Virginia and his special-needs son,” she said. “He thanked us in a video. It was really touching.” In addition, the teens have variously volunteered at a local soup kitchen, a home for teens with intellectual disabilities, Habitat for Humanity and other parishes in the Diocese.

All three teens put careful consideration into choosing their “Confirmation names.” The choosing of a new patron saint for whom one has a special admiration or affinity at Confirmation is a centuries-old tradition in western Catholicism. It is not a requirement, though. The Church sees Confirmation less as a new stage of Christian life than as an opportunity to deepen the graces of Baptism. But it is also an occasion for the candidates to reflect on how they should live out their baptismal commitment in the future, imitating the holy men and women of previous ages. These saints drew upon the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit and the graces of the sacramental life of the Church in order to be the holy people we revere today.

Robert Davis had this in mind when he chose Jogues as his Confirmation name, after St. Isaac Jogues, the Jesuit martyr and missionary to native Americans. “He walked a road that reminded me of Jesus’ walk to Calvary,” Robert said of the saint. He admired St. Isaac’s courage and willingness to suffer for Christ.

Becca Morris said that choosing her Confirmation name was difficult. She wanted to honor her Italian heritage by choosing an Italian saint as a patron, and finally chose St. Cecile, a holy woman and Roman martyr of the second century. Hannah Daly chose St. Rose of Lima as her patron. “Rose was beautiful,” Hannah explained, “and attracted so much attention that she purposely disfigured herself in order not to be distracted from God.” Like Becca and Robert, Hannah was impressed by the capacity, and sometimes the necessity, of radical sacrifice for one’s faith.

The young people also stressed the importance of their sponsors. Robert’s sponsor is his grandfather. “He’s always been the rock of our family,” Robert said, “a huge role model. He teaches me, not just about being a better Catholic but about being a better, holy person.”

“A sponsor has to be someone you can look up to,” Becca explained. She chose one of the leaders of the St. Peter mission trips.

Hannah’s sponsor was the leader of her small group in the Confirmation preparation program at St. Peter. She characterized a sponsor as “someone who watches over you, someone who can answer your questions and guide you in your spiritual life.”

When he confers the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Bishop tells the candidates, “You must be witnesses before all the world to Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection; your way of life should at all times reflect the goodness of Christ. Christ gives varied gifts to His Church, and the Spirit distributes them among the members of Christ’s body to build up the holy people of God in unity and love. Be active members of the Church, alive in Jesus Christ. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit give your lives completely in the service of all, as did Christ, who came not to be served but to serve.”

The youth at St. Peter – like many young people approaching Confirmation in parishes throughout the Diocese -- seem to have a clear idea of the challenges before them, and of the necessity of a close relationship and dependence on the Lord. To speak with them is to come away with renewed hope, for the Church and the world.