Breaking down the Lesson...
This Sunday's readings are taken from Eph 6:10-17 and Mt 18:23-35.
The Lesson reads as follows:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Any good Sacramental Theologian, should be able to read this text and understand immediately its import with regard to the Sacrament of Confirmation. Let me render the translation a little more directly of just the first line:
Finally, be [strengthened or confirmed] in the Lord and in the [potency] of His [virtue].
and so you know that I am not taken advantage of you, here it is in the Latin, which is the Universal Norm for the Latin Rite (Roman Catholic) Church:
De cetero confortamini in Domino et in potentia virtutis eius.
The word '
confortamini' is a pretty uncommon word meaning, "with-fortify-you-all." The English word confirm has a similar meaning, "with-make-firm." The difference is 'firm' vs. 'fort' both referring to strength. So, it is appropriate to render the line, "Finally, be strengthened..."
I only rendered the other two words differently to show that the second of the two, '
virtutis,' is related to the English word virtue. The root of "virtue" is "
vir," which means man/male. The word "
virtus" literally translated means, "manliness." Strength was seen as the predominant 'virtue' that distinguished men from women, and so often times, the word means nothing more than strength, as it does in this case. For, surely we cannot expect that St. Paul is referring to the quality in God that makes Him manly.
The other word, which I rendered as 'potency,' is related to the English word omnipotent, which has its roots in the Latin word, "
omnipotens," meaning 'almighty' or 'all-powerful.' So, it is appropriate to substitute either English word, 'might' or 'power,' for '
potentia' I would recommend you do not use 'potency.' That was purely for pedagogical purposes.
So, read it again this way:
Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the power of His strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Or again this way:
Finally, be confirmed in the Lord and in the might of His virtue. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Nice, huh!? I think so. So... what does this have to do with the Sacrament of Confirmation?
Confirmation and Strength...
It is likely, especially if you have not grasped the relation at this point, that you were taught in your own Confirmation preparation classes that Confirmation is all about receiving the "Gift of the Holy Spirit" and the "gifts of the Holy Spirit." You may have even heard, if you were lucky, that it is the perfection of the Grace that you received at Baptism. Even luckier if you were taught that the Sacrament is about 'Strength.' There is a tendency to shy away from the language of 'Strength' because it implies that there is something against which we need to be strong.
If you read Pope Paul VI's words when he revised the rite of Confirmation after the Second Vatican Council, he says:
The sharing of the divine nature which is granted to men through the grace of Christ has a
certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born
anew by baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of confirmation, and finally are sustained by the
food of eternal life in the eucharist... the
body is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the body is signed, that the soul too may be
fortified... Through the sacrament of confirmation, those who have been born
anew in baptism receive the inexpressible Gift, the Holy Spirit himself, by which ‘they are endowed... with special strength’. (Pope Paul VI. Divinae Consortium Naturae; 1975)
The Divine Mathematics behind the sacraments...
The sacrament has at its core the reception of the Gift of the Holy Spirit, but every sacrament has at its core the reception of grace which is a share in the Divine Life. As the Holy Father says "
The sharing of the divine nature which is granted to men through the grace of Christ." In Confirmation, one receives the Holy Spirit, but that reception is still only a participation in the Divine Life of the Holy Spirit.
As finite beings, our share in the infinite must necessarily be finite, or it would mean the annihilation of the finite thing, the human person. For, ∞ + x = ∞. That is to say, an infinitude plus any finite is equal to the infinitude. The finite thing ceases to exist. As a finite thing, we receive a share in the infinite each according to our individual nature.
What I am trying to say is that in the sacraments we do not cease to be ourselves. We do not become the Holy Spirit, in the simplest of terms. We receive some share in the life of the Holy Spirit, and by way of concomitance, we receive a share in the life of the Son and of the Father. For, where there is one, the other two must also be. In this way, all the sacraments are alike.
Distinguishing between their purposes...
That being said, every sacrament is for the same purpose, namely to receive some share in the Divine Life. That being the case, if there are different sacraments we must necessarily distinguish them by some other purpose. Pope Paul VI gives us an example of these distinctions quoting from Tertullian:
The body is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; the
body is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the body is signed, that the soul too may be fortified; the body is overshadowed by the laying on of hands, that the soul too may be enlightened by the Spirit; the body is fed on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul too should be
nourished by God (Tertullian. De resurrectione mortuorum.VIII, 3: CCL, 2, 931).
When Tertullian says, "the body is washed..." he is referring to baptism. When he says, "the body is anointed..." It is unclear to which sacrament he is referring for both Baptism and Confirmation make use of holy oils. He may be referring to both, but Confirmation requires the Sacred Chrism in order to be valid, when Baptism can be performed validly without the Oil of Catechumens. So, it follows that he is speaking of Confirmation. Likewise, when he says, "the body is signed..." and "body is overshadowed..." he is also referring to Confirmation. When he says, "the body is fed..." He is clearly speaking of the Eucharist.
From this, we can say that in the Sacrament of Confirmation these signs are used for the consecration, strengthening, and enlightening of the confimand. It is also important to point out that in Confirmation, these three signs take place at the same time. The most important aspect of this sacrament seems to be
strengthening. The confirmand is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so that he might be firm in his conviction. The confirmand is consecrated, that is to say set apart for a special purpose, and strengthened to perform that purpose.
So, what is that purpose?
The importance of a good offense and defense...
Every great team defeats other great teams by having both a great offense and a great defense. The the offenses are equally matched, but one team has the stronger defense, a scoring attempt will be thwarted by the stronger defense leading that team to victory. Likewise, if both defenses are equally matched, the stronger offense will score leading that team to victory.
The Catholic Church has an offense and a defense. Evangelization is the way in which the Church scores points. The defense of the Church is likened to apologetics. The goal of the Catholic Church is to win souls for Christ, to draw more sheep into His flock so that they too may feed on verdant pastures. By extension, every Christian has the obligation to evangelize and defend the faith.
The Christian person, however, primarily evangelizes by the example of his life. So many are turned away from the Church by the hypocritical way in which we live our lives. This should not be the case. For, if we recognize that we are hypocrites, then we also should recognize that the Church is for hypocrites. The Church is for sinners striving to be better. The Hospital is for the sick who want to be healthy.
Our lives need to reflect this. We need to draw people into the Church by acknowledging our own shortcomings. If we recognize our own faults and live our lives accordingly, our actions speak volumes about the grace of God. Whereas if we act superior and judge others by our actions, we will never score points.
The interior struggle...
St. Paul's words are clear, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." This is not simply a worldly battle. We should not so much concern ourselves with 'fighting the powers that be,' the injustices of government, the oppression of poor by the wealthy. Rather we should defend ourselves against the temptations, against our own lusts, against our own passions, and the interior assaults of the devil.
We need to rid ourselves of discord and the desire for wealth, power, pleasure, and fame. When we turn our focus inward, our outward actions follow and in a much more persuasive manner. When our heart is properly ordered, we draw others into a relationship that leads to their hearts being properly ordered. When the majority of people's hearts are properly ordered, we can change the world, but it starts inside us.
We have to be strong enough to fight this interior battle. Our evangelization begins within and moves outward from a properly ordered life. The outward battle requires that we put on certain armor:
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
We must be true and honest to ourselves first, if we are to be true and honest to others. We have to just to whom we are indebted and merciful toward those indebted to us. We have to prepare ourselves to understand the Gospel with reason and faith. We must receive the forgiveness of our sins and repent. And we must have the word of God always on our mind, and ready to speak it if necessary.
This is the strength that Confirmation offers us. The strength to be true and honest, just and merciful, reasonable and believing, and firm in our reliance on God.
All this being said, this Sunday's Gospel seems to interpret itself:
For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, "Have patience with me and I will repay you everything." And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, "Pay back what you owe." So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, "Have patience with me and I will repay you." But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened."Then summoning him, his lord said to him, "You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?" And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
