“Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Before the coming of the Holy Spirit, the apostles and other disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ were hiding in fear behind closed doors. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were filled with courage and went forth, clothed with power from on high, to proclaim the Gospel with fearless hearts and apostolic fervor.
The same thing happened to you when you received the sacrament of Confirmation. The same Holy Spirit was given to you for the same purpose.
Are you still hiding your faith behind closed doors? The world we live in is increasingly hostile toward the Christian faith. Acknowledging your faith in public — even just openly admitting that you are Catholic — sometimes requires real courage.
Armed for spiritual combat
It used to be common to speak of Confirmation as arming soldiers of Christ for spiritual combat. St. Thomas Aquinas speaks about this when he explains why the sacrament is given on the forehead:
“In this sacrament, man receives the Holy Spirit for strength in the spiritual combat, that he may bravely confess the Faith of Christ even in face of the enemies of that Faith. Wherefore he is fittingly signed with the sign of the cross on the forehead, with chrism, for two reasons.
“First, because he is signed with the sign of the cross, as a soldier with the sign of his leader, which should be evident and manifest. Now, the forehead, which is hardly ever covered, is the most conspicuous part of the human body. Wherefore the confirmed is anointed with chrism on the forehead, that he may show publicly that he is a Christian: thus too the apostles after receiving the Holy Spirit showed themselves in public, whereas before they remained hidden in the upper room.
“Second, because man is hindered from freely confessing Christ’s name, by two things — by fear and by shame. Now both these things betray themselves principally on the forehead . . . Hence those who are ashamed, blush, and those who are afraid, turn pale. And therefore man is signed with chrism, that neither fear nor shame may hinder him from confessing the name of Christ.”
Have there been moments in your life when you hid your Christian faith from view out of fear or shame? Take courage and be not afraid: you have been clothed with power from on high!
Participation in the evangelizing mission of the Church
First by Baptism, and then especially by Confirmation, every member of the Christian faithful is called and ordered to participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church. Confirmation “gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Jesus Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1303).
Does this mean you have to stand on the street corner with a megaphone? No. But it does mean that you must not hide your faith when the opportunity presents itself.
Do you have to be an expert theologian or apologist to explain and defend the faith with convincing words? No. It’s great if you can do that, but when you hear our Lord Jesus Christ or His Catholic Church challenged or mocked in conversation, it is often enough simply to say, “I believe in Jesus Christ; I’m a Catholic.”
The Church grew rapidly in the first centuries of her existence, not because of persuasive words of worldly wisdom, but because the pagans witnessed the other-worldly courage of the early Christians who willingly and joyfully endured mockery, humiliation, imprisonment, and death rather than deny their faith in Christ our Lord who suffered all that and more for them, just as he did for us.
Evangelizing the world does not require grand schemes and intricate strategies. It just requires conviction and courage. Be holy and talk to others about Jesus Christ. Dare to confess his holy name. There is power in the name of Jesus. It requires courage, but if you have been Confirmed, you have received that courage. You have been clothed with power from on high. You have received the Holy Spirit so that you can be witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth.
So do not hide your faith behind closed doors, but go forth into this world — into your families, into your workplaces, into your local communities, and confess the name of Christ openly, with love and joy, peace and patience, gentleness and humility. And then let’s see what happens when we all start doing that!