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AN INVITATION TO A DEEPER INVOLVEMENT IN THE MISSION OF CHRIST

The sacrament of conformation among all sacraments is one which is given the least importance. It is

vived as a sacrament which has to be received so that we clear the hurdle to accept the next important sacrament

namely marriage/holy orders. The church too has not given it equal importance as compared to the sacrament of

Baptism and hence scholars have termed it as 'a sacrament in search of theology.' Most of us would vividlyremember our 1st Holy Communion but almost nothing about our conformation even though conformation came

much later and should be fresh in our memory. Apathy lies not only with the youngsters who are about to receive

the sacrament but also among their parents who grumble that their children have to spend so many hours in

preparation. Today the parents are more concerned about the careers of their children than religious or moral

education.

Conformation is seen as an end to religious instruction and involvement in the church activities. So once

confirmed some people come back to church only to get married; in the mean time they remain 'Sunday Catholics'

We need to understand that conformation has unique character as conformation helps young people to live their

Christian lives in a secular society. A lay animator says: Conformation catechises does not prepare the young

people 'for conformation' but 'for after conformation.' It prepares them for a greater and meaningful involvement in

the matters of the world. To understand this we need to know the theological meaning of the sacrament ofconformation.

Conformation is the sharing in the life of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted the Holy Sprit to be given to all

believers through the apostles and their successors. He also wanted the believers to share the grace through the

coming of the Holy Spirit. Conformation is thus a sacramental sign, a mystery of handing over the Holy Spirit.

Jesus after the resurrection returned to his Father but he gave us a paraclete, a mediator who would remain with us

forever ( Jn 14:16) Conformation is understood as the self-transmission of the Spirit of Christ, which calls us to a

deeper immersion into the mission of Christ. The disciples received the Holy spirit on the Pentecost day and the

same disciples who had gone into hiding after the death of Jesus scared of the Jewish authorities began to fearlessly

proclaim the Gospel and continue the mission of Jesus.

The sacrament of conformation is close to the Holy orders in conformation the laying on of hands is an

extension of the laying on of hands in orders. And as the ordained minister is called to a mission so too is theconfirmed Christian called to a mission in the secular society. Bishop Bosco Penha calls the sacrament of

Conformation a strategic means to effect church renewal. He further states that, the sacrament of conformation is

extremely crucial to make good the deficiencies of infant baptism as infant baptism does not call for a personal

commitment and faith affirmation. The Vatican Council document Lumen Gentium clearly affirms this view: "Bythe sacrament of confirmation the faithful are more perfectly bound to the church and are endowed with special

strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread the faith by

word and deed. They participate in the eucharistic sacrifice and offer themselves along with it." ( LG 11)

Hence the Confirmation program needs to have a module which calls for the candidate to involve himself

through out the year in some concrete activity or a project in society/church etc.

When children are small we send them to school and make them study at times against their wish because they are

not able to understand the importance of good education. Similarly many youth are definitely not inclined towards

social and church activities. Hence we need to adopt a coercive approach for their involvement and need toconstantly monitor their work till they begin to discover the value in such activities. Activities can be broadly

classified into:

1. Chruch: This could involve ministry in sunday school, altar servers, lectors, choir, SVP, liturgical

animation, BCC etc.

2. Social Justice issues : Corruption / good governance, ecological issues, exploitation of the

marginalized etc.

3. Community Centre: ministry could be in study classes, health care, small saving groups etc.

We could let the candidate choose from these three categories based on their interest. Even a success rate of 10%

continuing with their involvement in such activities after their confirmation would help us to build a good

leadership base in the church. From my experience in one of my pastoral work parish such approach has reaped

rich benefits through constant and efficient monitoring and follow-up by the local BCC leaders. It has helped in the

greater involvement of the youth in church and social activities and thanks to a very committed priest the

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confirmation programme has become a key ministry in this parish. Here we can truly see the vision of the church

for the youth which is echoed in LG 11 taking root.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

1. MUHLEN H. 'Confirmation as the Sacramental Sign', Theology DigestVol -1972,

pp.9-15

2. PENHA. B., 'Church renewal through confirmation and Small Communities',Indian

Missiological Review, vol - 1993, pp 43-51