Let the Fire Fall

I appreciate the imagery of how the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in a way sealed (or confirmed) the Paschal Mystery.  Similarly, Confirmation is the Sacrament where the Holy Spirit puts the seal of Pentecost on the baptized person.

The more we study the history and the theology of the sacraments, the more I come to appreciate the moment of anamnesis associated with each one.  I've come to see our Confirmation is a participation in the Pentecost event.  The same fire of the Holy Spirit descending down upon us in the Sacrament of Confirmation that descended upon Mary and the Apostles in the Upper Room.  The same grace the Apostles received to be fearless witnesses of Him and to be strengthened at every stage of life and against all dangers and invisible enemies is offered to us through Confirmation.

Truly, through the laying on of hands and the anointing with the Sacred Chrism Oil by the bishop (or his vicar), we become anointed priest, profits, and kings through our Confirmation.  At the same time, the Old Testament prophecy of that God's Spirit would rest upon the Messiah to sustain His mission is fulfilled for us personally, in our lives.  We become true soldiers for Christ, ready and true witnesses to the faith and take on the obligation to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.  Indeed, the great commission becomes our mission.

Unfortunately, I didn't have appreciation for such things in my formative years.  Confirmation came and went for me.  While I didn't experience the Flame of Love at the time of the anointing, as intended, I was still consecrated to be a Temple of the Holy Spirit.  The hot embers of Confirmation were preserved in that Temple until such time that impediments to grace could be removed and those hot embers stoked into a Flame.

Now, when I attend Mass on Pentecost or for a Confirmation, I allow myself to truly enter (alongside Mary and the Apostles) into the mystery of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Trinity, and the seven-fold gifts with which we are endowed.