Category: Sacraments

Confirmation – At What Age?

Amidst the scandals and the news that has left many of us grieving – trying to process how those we trust as the heads of the Bride of Christ, His Church, have stooped so low -, I was also rocked by some more acute personal news that our Parish School will be dropping 8th Grade Confirmation.  Our oldest daughter being in 8th Grade this year has left me digging deeper on what this Sacrament really means, and if there is any significance to when one should receive it.  And I would like to share my findings with you.

Now first of all, our Parish isn’t the only one that has punted this Sacrament out to the high school years and beyond.  It has been general practice in our Diocese – which is one of the reasons our School felt so special when they adopted an earlier Confirmation practice.

Nevertheless, the reasoning behind our Parish’s decision is that the 8th Graders are not yet mentally mature enough to know what it means to live a fully Catholic life in the faith, and that they should gain some real-life experience before they make this leap into full initiation.

Right off the bat this didn’t sit right with me, because after-all the Sacrament itself is in aide to maturity.  And secondly, taking the same stance with other Sacraments, why do we let 7 year olds recieve the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament when they can’t even tie their own shoes let along grasp the concept of our God in the appearance of bread?  But yet, they somehow are mature enough to receive this Sacrament.  So what gives with Confirmation?

Here’s what I’ve come to understand –

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1290), “In the first centuries Confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with Baptism…”  this was done on infants.  Furthermore, in CCC (1307) “For Centuries, Latin custom has indicated ‘the age of discretion’ as the reference point for receiving Confirmation. “

The age of discretion of course being around 7 years. This is around the same time we traditionally give children the Sacrament of Holy Communion (the Body of Jesus Christ).  – and as noted, we allow Children to receive Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe!  For many years, and for this very reason, Holy Communion wasn’t given until after Confirmation, if not given together.

In other words, for the better part of the entire Church history Confirmation has been given to children – not to young adults.  And additionally – in CCC (1308): “Although Confirmation is sometimes called the ‘sacrament of Christian maturity,’ we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need ‘ratification’ to become effective.”  And CCC (1314) “Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest, should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ’s fullness.”

In general, the Catholic Church doesn’t tent toward the idea of waiting.  On the contrary, the caveats and exceptions in the CCC all lean toward giving the Sacrament even earlier – i.e. especially if there is danger of death as an example.

And this is because Confirmation isn’t supposed to be “the end” so to speak of our Christian development in maturity.  It is merely the beginning!   This Sacrament strengthen and Confirms a faith – fortifies it for battle.  The Sacrament of Confirmation allows the recipient to receive the full spectrum of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit – weapons that they can use to do real battle in the Spiritual life.  These are tools they absolutely need in order to have the best chance of retaining their Faith through high school and into adulthood.

Sacraments are a gift, freely given.  And therefore, whether the child receiving it is ready at that moment or not, sooner or later they will be.

Although I understand pastoral concerns for the children’s readiness of the 8th graders, I just cannot agree with the thought of withholding this Grace at such a precarious point in a person’s life.  How many souls could be at stake.  Just as a couple might be waiting until they are “ready” to get Married….  Or a Married couple waiting to be “ready” to have children..  There is a sweet spot where readiness cannot be measured.  We’re never ready to be Married, but if we are called to it, then God provides.  The same is true for having children.  If we waited until we were ready, then no one would ever have children.  And the same is true for the Sacraments.  How can we ever be ready enough to live Divine Life!?  But His Grace is sufficient.

Our children need this Sacrament in order to live their Christian life to the fullest.  Before high school is where this counts the most, because in high school it may be too late.  Why would we wait for them to enter into high school – the time where they will be the most tempted and tried in all aspects of moral question  – without first fortifying them and giving them this Grace?

I can guarantee that many children by their first year in high school will have lost any hope of being Confirmed, and for those that do get Confirmed after that first year it will have been too late in some cases of sin.  (Think of these major points – who they make new friends with, after school activities, will they start to work, starting to drive, starting to date).  Why would we allow them this chance at sullying their Baptismal gowns?

In a sports related example…, it would be like giving a football player all the training he needs to go out and play a game, but yet withholding the pads until he gains some experience in playing.  The athlete needs all of the training and the equipment in order to play the game without getting injured.    A coach can’t put a player out on the field and say – when there are ready to get hit, then they can come get the helmet.   They go out on the field with all the equipment already in place, whether the helmet is needed or not!

It is a mystery to my why Dioceses has done this for many years – that is to wait.  It may have developed more out of a sense of availability for the Bishop to get around and perform the ceremony.  It may also be a way to offer opportunities for those who are converting to the faith later in life to have that.  And dare I speak the more cynical – perhaps its a way of creating more “classes” so that the customers… err… I mean candidates can register for a small fee…  Praise God, as I understand it, the trend now is actually swinging back the other way.  And there are other parishes and articles on line that talk to this revival of the order of the Sacraments.

Now my final point of the matter is the question on where our Catholic elementary Schools stands.  If we want our schools to stand apart from the rest, then we cannot simply chase after academic prestige.  That is what the schools seem to be doing.  We should be offering a rigorous Religious Education, providing all the Sacraments of Initiation, raising and sending off well educated – yet more importantly – well-formed young adults.  This is the gift that Catholic education can give which will distinguish us from the others.   Kids get bombarded with Math homework, Science projects, English papers to write, and yet Religion is a touchy feely – basically pass or fail – class that has no deep content.  I’ve never seen any children pushed to their limit to understand the Sacraments, the Virtues, the Seven Deadly Sins, Angels or any such article of our Faith.  I totally understand that parents are the first educators.  But that’s the case as well for all the other subjects, and we don’t use that excuse to push the burden of education for math on children.  Yes, parents should know their faith, and we should pass our faith on.  But as we rely on the “experts” to help them with math and science, we should as well for our Catholic faith.  This is in fact the ministry of the Church to help our children learn the faith from the experts.

I encourage you all to please learn about this Great Sacrament, and urge our Schools and Dioceses to offer it earlier rather than later.  Our future generation of Saints depends on this.

God bless from your family here at All Saints Museum

Relics – Part 3 in a 3 part series

This is the final part of a talk I recently gave to a Youth Group.  I split the talk into 3 parts – Sacraments, Sacramentals, and Relics.   Check out Part 1, and Part 2, if you haven’t already.  I really hope you enjoy.

This is what All Saints Museum is all about.  Bringing the Saints and our Faith in a very special way to people.  Our motto is “Venerating Saints of the past.  Inspiring Saints of the future.”

Please say a prayer with us that talks like this will touch souls and bear much good fruit.

Also, please check out our website, and subscribe to your YoutTube Channel to stay  up to date on our latest.

 

Sacramentals – Part 2 in a 3 part series

This is the 2nd in a 3 part talk I recently gave to a Youth Group.  I split the talk into 3 parts – Sacraments, Sacramentals, and Relics.   Check out Part 1, if you haven’t already.  I really hope you enjoy.

Please check out our website, and subscribe to your YoutTube Channel to stay  up to date on our latest.

Sacraments – Part 1 in a 3 part series

I was blessed to be able to give a talk to a Youth Group recently.  I split the talk into 3 parts – Sacraments, Sacramentals, and Relics.  I really hope you enjoy.

Please check out our website, and subscribe to your YoutTube Channel to stay  up to date on our latest.

Words from God the Father

Some harsh words from God the Father in dialogue with St. Catherine of Siena as dictated by her while in a state of ecstasy to her secretaries.

“And I would that you know that, more darkness and division have come into the world amongst seculars and religious and the clergy and pastors of the holy Church, through the lack of the light of justice, and the advent of the darkness of injustice, than from any other causes.”

“Neither the civil law, nor the divine law, can be kept in any degree without holy justice, because he who is not corrected, and does not correct others, becomes like a limb which putrefies, and corrupts the whole body, because the bad physician, when it had already begun to corrupt, placed ointment immediately upon it, without having first burnt the wound. So, were the prelate, or any other lord having subjects, on seeing one putrefying from the corruption of mortal sin, to apply to him the ointment of soft words of encouragement alone, without reproof, he would never cure him, but the putrefaction would rather spread to the other members, who, with him, form one body under the same pastor. But if he were a physician, good and true to those souls, as were those glorious pastors of old, he would not give salving ointment without the fire of reproof. And, were the member still to remain obstinate in his evil doing, he would cut him off from the congregation in order that he corrupt not the other members with the putrefaction of mortal sin. But they act not so today, but, in cases of evil doing, they even pretend not to see. And do you know why? The root of self-love is alive in them, wherefore they bear perverted and servile fear. Because they fear to lose their position or their temporal goods, or their prelacy, they do not correct, but act like blind ones, in that they see not the real way by which their position is to be kept. If they would only see that it is by holy justice they would be able to maintain it; but they do not, because they are deprived of light.”

I do believe that these words apply now more than ever before. Many Priests and Bishops simply will not correct or reproof others, a clear neglect of the Spiritual Works of Mercy – to Instruct the Ignorant and to Admonish the Sinner.

This neglect causes such confusion and conflict.

Take as an example the actively homosexual person who dies. We’ve seen in recent news this very case being debated by a few of our Bishops. There is an intersection between the Corporal Work of Mercy to bury the dead, and an obligation at the same time to the Spiritual Works of Mercy to Instruct the Ignorant and Admonish the Sinner (the deceased person’s partner or family as an example). There needs to be greater teaching about this intersection between the Works of Mercy. Justice demands this teaching and clarification – the light whereby right Mercy can be applied. If we neglect the Spiritual Work of Mercy in this example situation, then we cause great scandal which could lead to the destruction of many souls – and what did it cost? We bury one dead person, but neglect hundreds whose souls may be dead. Yet, with a balanced approach we can still bury the dead appropriately if we also consider the Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Surely today’s Gospel “I desire Mercy not sacrifice”, is made more clear in the light of the Father’s words to St. Catherine. True Mercy applies the ointment only after having treated the wound.

God bless, and may All Saints pray for us. Amen.

Visible Faith

All Saints Museum Family,

Happy Lent!  I hope your Lent has been fruitful so far.  Keep the faith and the good works!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), so we know this is Sanctifying Grace which is given by the Sacraments. And faith is “the evidence of things unseen” (Hebrews 11:1), which makes perfect sense because the Sacraments show us visibly the truth which is happening invisibly. Therefore the Sacraments are the visible signs of our faith, evidence of the Grace within us – that is the “participation in Divine Life” (CCC 1997). And moreover this is proof that “faith alone” doesn’t save us, because the Sacraments are in themselves works- that is outward signs, but the Grace is freely given by God.  Not our own works, but the work of God through us, through our faith.  Jesus came to do the work of His Father, and He sent us to continue His work! (see John 17:18 and John 20:21).  And the work of God is this – to believe in Jesus (see John 6:29).  Therefor it is neither faith alone nor works alone which saves us, but by Grace through faith – visibly manifest by the works we do in Christ.

In this season of Lent, I encourage you to receive especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  How wonderful a Sacrament – God’s work in our Heart to Heal and Forgive and impart His Free Gift of Grace.  Amen.

 

History of the Sign of the Cross

I recieved this in an email from a good friend and wanted to pass it along. 

 

The Sign of the Cross

  • FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS

My friend is Greek Orthodox. In his Church, they make the sign of the cross crossing themselves from the right shoulder to the left, but we do the opposite. Why is there a difference? When did this come into practice?

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The sign of the cross is a beautiful gesture which reminds the faithful of the cross of salvation while invoking the Holy Trinity. Technically, the sign of the cross is a sacramental, a sacred sign instituted by the Church which prepares a person to receive grace and which sanctifies a moment or circumstance. Along this thought, this gesture has been used since the earliest times of the Church to begin and to conclude prayer and the Mass.

The early Church Fathers attested to the use of the sign of the cross. Tertullian (d. ca. 250) described the commonness of the sign of the cross: “In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross” (De corona, 30).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) in his Catechetical Lectures stated, “Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in our goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are traveling, and when we are at rest” (Catecheses, 13). Gradually, the sign of the cross was incorporated in different acts of the Mass, such as the three-fold signing of the forehead, lips, and heart at the reading of the gospel or the blessing and signing of the bread and wine to be offered occurs about the ninth century.

The earliest formalized way of making the sign of the cross appeared about the 400s, during the Monophysite heresy which denied the two natures in the divine person of Christ and thereby the unity of the Holy Trinity. The sign of the cross was made from forehead to chest, and then from right shoulder to left shoulder with the right hand. The thumb, forefinger, and middle fingers were held together to symbolize the Holy Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Moreover, these fingers were held in such a way that they represented the Greek abbreviation I X C (Iesus Christus Soter, Jesus Christ Savior): the straight forefinger representing the I; the middle finger crossed with the thumb, the X; and the bent middle finger, the C. The ring finger and “pinky” finger were bent downward against the palm, and symbolize the unity of the human nature and divine nature, and the human will and divine will in the person of Christ. This practice was universal for the whole Church until about the twelfth century, but continues to be the practice for the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches.

An instruction of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) evidences the traditional practice but also indicates a shift in the Latin Rite practice of the Catholic Church: “The sign of the cross is made with three fingers, because the signing is done together with the invocation of the Trinity … This is how it is done: from above to below, and from the right to the left, because Christ descended from the heavens to the earth, and from the Jews (right) He passed to the Gentiles (left).” While noting the custom of making the cross from the right to the left shoulder was for both the western and eastern Churches, Pope Innocent continued, “Others, however, make the sign of the cross from the left to the right, because from misery (left) we must cross over to glory (right), just as Christ crossed over from death to life, and from Hades to Paradise. [Some priests] do it this way so that they and the people will be signing themselves in the same way. You can easily verify this — picture the priest facing the people for the blessing — when we make the sign of the cross over the people, it is from left to right….” Therefore, about this time, the faithful began to imitate the priest imparting the blessing, going from the left shoulder to the right shoulder with an open hand. Eventually, this practice became the custom for the Western Church.

In the classic work, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite by Adrian Fortescue and J. B. O’Connell, the sign of the cross is made as follows: “Place the left hand extended under the breast. Hold the right hand extended also. At the word Patris [Father] raise it and touch the forehead; at Filii [Son] touch the breast at a sufficient distance down, but above the left hand; at Spiritus Sancti [Holy Spirit] touch the left and right shoulders; at Amen join the hands if they are to be joined.” Although this practice may have evolved from the original and still current practice of Eastern Rite, it nevertheless has been the standing custom for the Latin Rite Church for centuries.

No matter how one technically makes the sign of the cross, the gesture should be made consciously and devoutly. The individual must be mindful of the Holy Trinity, that central dogma that makes Christians “Christians.” Also, the individual must remember that the cross is the sign of our salvation: Jesus Christ, true God who became true man, offered the perfect sacrifice for our redemption from sin on the altar of the cross. This simple yet profound act makes each person mindful of the great love of God for us, a love that is stronger than death and promises everlasting life. The sign of the cross should be made with purpose and precision, not hastily or carelessly.

Catholic Museums

There is a real need for Catholic Museums, not just in our local areas, but in the world. 

The quintessential Catholic “family outing” is the Sunday Mass.  And this is critical – the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Faith. 

But outside of the Mass there are very few Catholic activities designed for, or that appeal to, the family.  I think that there is  more that needs to be done to spark an interest in the Faith.

If we can draw a parallel, I think we can compare the Faith Life to a fire.  You need 3 things, fuel, oxygen and heat.  The Mass (and all the Sacraments) are like the fuel. They keep our Faith alive by Divine Grace.  But we also need good Catechesis / education – the Oxygen, and we also need personal desire or inspiration – the heat.

You can have a Catholic that is educated and well formed, and receives the Sacraments, yet has little motivation or inspiration… they do the bare minimum, and therefore they are a flickering flame.  You can also have a person who is Inspired and has great desire, and receives all the Sacraments, but hasn’t been well informed.  Those inspirations and desire are short lived without a proper education and understanding.  And likewise you can be well informed and have inspiration, but if you aren’t living the Sacramental Life then something is amiss.

A Catholic Museum helps to add elements of the Education and Inspiration back into our community.  Together with the Sacraments, this can be a recipe for a renewed Faith Life!

 I pray that All Saints Museum contribute to this.

Marriage and Faith

Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things that are unseen.” (Heb 11:1).

This is not the dictionary definition of faith, but an inspired one from the Holy Spirit, who inspires the Scriptures.  This Faith is a gift from God himself – the first of the three Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) – given to us through grace.

Our Lord has revealed to His Church that the ordinary means of obtaining grace is through the Sacraments!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith.’“

We are given the initial bud of grace, Divine Life, when we are baptized.  And this is when our parents make the ultimate act of Faith for us.

As we grow older, we have the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion to keep this Divine Life within us growing – and it is in this Divine Life that we continue to have Faith.  And finally, the Sacrament of Marriage then strengthens this further.  Marriage itself is the sign of God’s relationship with His Church, as St. Paul counsels the Ephesians when he says, “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5:25).”  The family, stemming from Marriage, is a reflection of the Trinity, creating life through love.  The family is evidence of the Triune God, who “is not seen” – except, of course, through Jesus, who is THE Sacrament Himself: “When you see me, you see the Father” (Jn. 14:9).

Marriage and the family then are very sacred entities, because as we live Sacramental lives, we may indeed give others a glimpse of what Faith is. We give others “evidence” of something unseen.  We become the “substance of things hoped for” for others.

It is for this reason that we must always fight to defend Marriage, to defend the family.  And the best way to do this is by imitating the Saints.

May we, through the veneration of the Saints of the past, inspire Saints of the future.

God bless.