let_go_let_God Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 [quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 22 2004, 01:05 AM'] this conversation has got me thinking that the Easter Rite confirmation is the better way..... [/quote] If I may be so bold. How so phatcatholic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 well, b/c in the Roman Rite, there seems to be mass confusion over the purpose of confirmation. catholic schools and DRE's (Directors of Religious Education) have made it out to be a right of passage and have put undue pressure on the recipients of the sacrament to be at a certain spiritual level or to make this committment to the Church. then you have kids receiving the sacrament so they can go along w/ the crowd. that's not what its about. it shouldn't be: --"oh, we see you are able to defend the faith so we'll give you this grace." instead, it should be: --"we will give you this grace so that you will be able to defend the faith" i said that i was leaning towards the Easter Rite as the better way b/c their practice of confirmation basically eliminates all of this confusion. they just give the child confirmation right after baptism. no pressure to be at a certain spritiual level. no pressure to make this commitment to the church before you are ready. plus, as Cure said, children are being exposed to temptation and sin at even earlier ages then ever before and so we would do well to give them this extra protection of the Holy Spirit. now, let me clarify that i don't think the Roman Rite should change how they have done things for 100's of years. i just think that there needs to be better education about what this sacrament really does. w/ the proper undestanding, Confirmation as a pre-adolescent or as a teenager is perfectly fine. that's my 0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
let_go_let_God Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Ok, I was just curious thats all, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 np its all good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelFilo Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I'm an Eastern Catholic, and let me tell you, it was weird not being confirmed with all my Sunday school buddies. There was no pressure on me, but it so looked like, "I am here in my spiritual life and this is the point in which I can be confirmed". I felt sooooo totally inadequet because all my friends were being confirmed, and I wasn't! This would make alot of sense when you view confirmation as a sign of being at a certain spiritual level (which would make infant confirmation a sad sad thing for people, since it is impossible to be at a very high spiritual level at the age of 1 and less). So, yes there is confusion. Why I prefer it the Roman way. You at least know what confirmation is(with a good teacher teaching of course) prior to receieving it. There is no ncessiity to learn about confirmation if you received it as an infant. God bless, Mikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 As I said before we western people tend to "intellectualise" everything. We make the sacraments a series of hurdles to jump over then yoy get the reward. The Sacraments were instituted by God to give grace not some sort of hurdle. We western Catholics need to enter the mystery as well as come to a greater knowlegde of the truth in time. My teacher at seminary said you can have a ritual to celebrate the maturing of faith or the leaving of primary school for high school or college or whatever. Just don't call it Confirmation. By the way I am old enough to remember I was confirmed to be a soldier for Christ, which was great. The only problem was that was just an explanation of the way things were not an explanation of the sacrament! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 [quote name='MichaelFilo' date='Sep 22 2004, 08:04 PM'] I'm an Eastern Catholic, and let me tell you, it was weird not being confirmed with all my Sunday school buddies. There was no pressure on me, but it so looked like, "I am here in my spiritual life and this is the point in which I can be confirmed". I felt sooooo totally inadequet because all my friends were being confirmed, and I wasn't! This would make alot of sense when you view confirmation as a sign of being at a certain spiritual level (which would make infant confirmation a sad sad thing for people, since it is impossible to be at a very high spiritual level at the age of 1 and less). So, yes there is confusion. Why I prefer it the Roman way. You at least know what confirmation is(with a good teacher teaching of course) prior to receieving it. There is no ncessiity to learn about confirmation if you received it as an infant. God bless, Mikey [/quote] Receiving the sacrament of Confirmation as an infant does not mean that the person in question will never have to receive a proper catechesis in living the Christian life, but what it does mean is this, that the reception of the sacrament is not contingent upon some supposed knowledge or worth on the part of the person receiving it. This type of attitude, i.e., the attitude that holds that a person must reach a certain spiritual level before receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, can border on a form of the Pelagian heresy, because no one will ever be knowledgeable enough or worthy enough to receive God's grace, but grace would not be grace if man had to be worthy of receiving it. God condescends to share His uncreated life and glory with man, not because man deserves this, but because God has chosen to bring man into the life of the Trinity out of the superabundance of His love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmeister2 Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 [quote name='Apotheoun' date='Sep 20 2004, 01:54 PM'] [quote name='Code of Canon Law - Latin Rite'] Canon 913 §1 For holy communion to be administered to children, it is required that they have sufficient knowledge and be accurately prepared, so that according to their capacity they understand what the mystery of Christ means, and are able to receive the Body of the Lord with faith and devotion. [/quote] This canon only applies to the Latin Rite. [/quote] Yes, I think it is good not only to have Confirmation after Baptism, but also the Eucharist. It allows the baby to receive the graces of the Body and Blood of Christ, virtually their whole lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
track2004 Posted September 26, 2004 Author Share Posted September 26, 2004 Why do Canidates and Catechumens have to have RCIA classes? Why can't they just join if hey decide to? If babies are just accepted, as many of you are suggesting you would prefer, why can't an adult decide to join and then become a part of the church? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cure of Ars Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Because with power comes responsibility. If we have the ability to prepare to receive the grace of a sacrament then we have the responsibility to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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