In May this year, we celebrate the great festival commonly described as the Birthday of the Church, the Feast of Pentecost or Whitsunday, fifty days after Our Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead. Although the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ, was truly conceived and born by Our Lord on the Cross of Calvary, when the water signifying Holy Baptism and the blood signifying the Holy Eucharist gushed forth from His wounded side (Saint John 19.34), the New and Second Eve vivified by the Dominical Sacraments of the Gospel, the Church, taken from the side of the New and Second Adam, the New Creation Himself (Genesis 2.20-25, I Corinthians 15.47), that Church was filled with the power, grace, life, light and divinity of God the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, on Pentecost, when the Comforter descended on the Apostles, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the other holy men and women gathered in the Upper Room awaiting ‘the promise of the Father.’ (Acts of the Apostles 1 and 2).
But when does the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter Whom the Father sends in the Name of the Son (Saint John 14.26), descend upon us and fill our souls with His power and presence? Do we receive Him in the same way as did the Primitive Church, with tongues of fire and a rushing mighty wind? Or do we receive Him personally, corporately, individually in another less dramatic but equally powerful way?
The answer is: we receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost, the operation and presence of theHoly Ghost in a unique way, in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Some people know much about this Sacrament, but others, especially those outside the Churches of the Apostolic Succession, may know nothing about it all. Many Anglicans may not realise or recognise the import of this Sacrament. Like all of the Seven Sacraments, Confirmation has two parts; the part one can see and the part one cannot see. One can see the Bishop placing his hands on the head of a person who has already been baptised, and one can hear him praying. This is the outward part of the Sacrament. Perhaps one has seen a Bishop confirming; if one has, one will remember how in a short service the children, and perhaps some adults as well, went and knelt before him. One may even remember the prayer the Bishop said:
Defend, O Lord, this thy child with thy heavenly grace; that he may continue thine forever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom. Amen.
In different branches of the Church Catholic the words are different; but the important element is the laying-on-of-hands by a Successor of the Holy Apostles. The part which none can see is what God does in the souls of those who come to be confirmed. When the Bishop lays on his hands, God sends the Holy Ghost to make their souls strong. This is the inward part of the Sacrament. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls the Holy Ghost the Comforter, παράκλητος – the Paraclete, literally, ‘He who is called along side,’ ‘He who strengthens, who makes strong’ - Advocate, Guide, Helper, Encourager, Consoler, Intercessor, Refresher, Summoner, Liberator, Supporter (Saint John 14.16, 15.26, 16.7). The Holy Ghost comes to our souls to make us strong to keep the promises that we made when we were baptised into Christ.
We cannot see the Holy Ghost coming – just as we cannot see the wind, only its effect. Therefore, we should be able to see the result of the Holy Ghost in our souls, although we cannot see His descent: the result of the Holy Ghost’s indwelling should be a good and holy life. When we have been confirmed, we belong to God even more than before. The Holy Ghost seals us as His own – as we would seal a letter we want to send to our friend. The Holy Ghost seals and marks our souls as His own, to make especially sure we get to Heaven. ‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption’ (Ephesians 4.30). As the Bishop may say at Confirmation when he administers the chrism: The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. In Confirmation, Christ chrismates Christians with the chrism of the Holy Spirit. The Anointed One anoints the anointed ones with the One who is the Unction from above. Confirmation is our personal Pentecost, for each and everyone one of us (Acts of the Apostles 8.14-23, I9.1-7).
The Holy Ghost remains in our souls always, and we should always remember that we possess this special Strengthening Gift. When we were baptised, we became God’s Children by adoption and grace. When we are confirmed, we become God’s Soldiers in a new and special way. When we were baptised, we were given the gift of spiritual Regeneration and New Life in Christ by the Holy Ghost. When we are confirmed, we are given the gift of strength to make perfect the life of grace.
We more fully understand what a wonderful mystery and Sacrament Confirmation truly is when we recall Who the Holy Ghost is. The Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, proceeded forth and fell upon the Church on the first Whitsunday. He filled the Church with His strength so that she could go and do wonderful works for God. When we are confirmed, the Holy Ghost fills us with strength so that we too can go and accomplish wonderful achievements for God.
We can only be baptised once, and we can only be confirmed once. In fact, it is very much like being born and then growing up. The new-born child (the baptised) needs strength to grow into adulthood and maturity (the confirmed).
If we have not yet been confirmed, we should look forward to the day we shall be. If we have been confirmed, we should consider how we are using that marvellous Gift of God the Holy Ghost that we have within us.
God bless you and keep you in this holy Whitsuntide!
+Chad
2 comments:
A bit of history regarding Pentecost: As with the term Pascha, in Pentecost Christians borrowed a Jewish term and applied it to their own festivals. Tertullian (3rd century) knew of Christian Pentecost, and the Apostolic Constitutions (4th century) speak of the Pentecost feast lasting a week. In the Western Church the vigil of Pentecost became second only to the Easter Vigil in importance. Eventually in the West, Pentecost became a Sunday set aside for baptisms. Pentecost was not kept with an octave (an 8 day celebration) until a later date, although now that practice has been largely abandoned. For the most part, Pentecost is now in Western churches celebrated for only a Sunday. Traditionally, the Sundays between Pentecost and Advent have been designated "Sundays After Pentecost." However, this has been dropped in the West, although it continues in the East. The date of Pentecost is determined based on the date of Easter, and since Western churches calculate Easter differently than Orthodox Christians, usually Western and Eastern Christians celebrate Pentecost on different dates. Using the Western Easter calculation, the earliest possible date for Pentecost is May 10, and the latest possible date is June 13.
I noted in this blog’s heading that there is a deep respect for the undivided Church, in light of that what is your take on the Western Church’s departure from the practice of regularly allowing priests to confer confirmation (or chrismation) immediately following baptism? Do you view bishop-only confirmation as something merely better or acceptable, or do you think it should really be the operating norm for any and all churches? Final follow-up, what is your opinion on the dispute that might be commonly dichotomized as paedo- versus credo-confirmation? I’m honestly not trying to start a debate on these topics, I’m just genuinely interested in your opinion or any others out there that might care to comment.
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