On this Lord’s Day, through the Rite of Confirmation, six young catechumens of our congregation will again acknowledge publicly the gifts that God gave them in their Baptism and reaffirm their baptismal vows. Relying on God’s promise given in Holy Baptism, they will be asked to do what is expected of all followers and disciples of Christ Jesus, to make a personal public confession of the Faith of Christ and a pledge of lifelong fidelity to Christ.
Confirmation is not a sacrament but a custom of the Church. It links the catechumens to their Baptism, celebrates the reception of the Lord’s Word among them, and, for those catechumens who have not yet communed, welcomes them to the Lord’s Table. Confirmation declares that a catechumen is a Christian who has been baptized, confesses the faith, and is in communion with Christ and His Church. The reception of catechumens to the Lord’s Table assumes that ongoing catechesis (instruction in the faith) is the way of life for the faithful Christian. So Confirmation is not the end, a “graduation,” but a continuation of learning and walking in the way of the Lord in communion with the Triune God and fellow believers, His holy Christian Church.
We continue to keep these confirmands in our prayers, asking the Holy Spirit to keep them in the one true faith, that they may show forth the fruits of faith in their daily lives, and that on the Last Day they would be granted eternal life with all believers in Christ.