FORMATION
FORMATION 1998
THEME NO.4
"The Sacrament of
Confirmation"
1. Formation Prayer
(To be recited by all present).
In the name of the Father …
Heavenly Father, as we commence this
session of the Formation Programme, help us to believe you are near to us and that you
care for each of us every day of our lives. Send the Holy Spirit to be our helper and our
guide, enlightening our minds, giving us the grace to serve you with generous hearts and
inspiring us to stand firm as Christians in your love. We ask this through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
2. Scripture Reading – Acts
8:1,4,14-17
(Read by the discussion leader or
member nominated by him.)
A bitter persecution started against the
church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the country districts of
Judaea and Samaria.
Those who had escaped went from place to
place preaching the Good News.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down
there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit for as yet he had not come
down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they
laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
3. The Message
(Read by the discussion leader or the
member nominated by him.)
The rite of imposition of hands used to
express the entry into full fellowship with the Holy Spirit shows that this was the rite
which the mother Church of Jerusalem was itself using to give the Spirit to new converts
in Christian initiation. As the account shows, it was a post-baptismal rite. Together with
Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacrament of Confirmation constitute the ‘sacraments
of Christian Initiation, whose unity must be safeguarded’. The Sacrament of
Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For by the sacrament of
Confirmation, the baptised are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a
special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence, they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more
strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.
4. The Exercise
(Five minutes of reflection by all
members.)
What are my memories of the day of my
Confirmation?
How can I take hold of the grace which was
given to me at Confirmation and make it influence my daily life?
Why could it be said that the sacrament of
Confirmation is the sacrament of the Lay Apostolate?
5. The Sharing
(Members share aspects of their
personal faith and its place in their lives that have come to them through the Exercise.)
6. The Word
(The basis of meditation and reflection
for the ensuing month given by the discussion leader.)
"When we cry, ‘Abba!
Father!’, it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God" (Romans 8:15-16).
7. Closing Prayer
(Recited by all members.)
Lord, fulfil your promise. Send your Holy
Spirit to make us witnesses before the world to the good news proclaimed by Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
