On Saturday morning, Max and Alex Von Aulock and Sebastiano Kien will be confirmed by our
archbishop, Stephen Cardinal Brislin. Confirmation implies that the candidates are now prepared to
take on a new role in the Church, that of active participants in the life of the community.
Confirmation requires an anointing with chrism, the oil blessed by the bishop at the Chrism mass.
Before the anointing he prays the following prayer over the candidates:
In Baptism God our Father gave the new birth of eternal life to his chosen sons and daughters.
Let us pray to our Father that he will pour out the Holy Spirit to strengthen his sons and
daughters with his gifts and anoint them to be more like Christ the Son of God.
All-powerful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by water and the Holy Spirit
you freed your sons and daughters from sin and gave them new life.
Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide.
Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage,
the spirit of knowledge and reverence.
Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.
We note that the purpose of the anointing is to strengthen us and make us more like Christ. The gifts
of the Holy Spirit have a purpose, and that is to help us live our baptismal identity as sons and
daughters of God, and to help in the proclamation given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28: 18-20:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is the sacramental arc we celebrate on Saturday, from baptism to confirmation, from being given
a mission, to being given the strength and the tools to fulfil the mission. Please pray for Max, Alex and
Sebastiano that they who have heard the call of the Lord will not only be able to say yes, but also be
given the grace the need to live that YES every day of their lives, here in this community of faith, or
where ever it is that the Lord leads them.
