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Knowing Fulfillment
swirls, boat neck collar. Outer
trappings
tell the world. Today, her day,
brings
Fulfillment
In church, younger cousins nod,
envious
until their turn arrives; Older
relatives
offer knowing smiles while
melting wax mingles with the
fragrance
of simple wooden pews infused with
years of trailing incense.
Will she remain faithful,
renounce, surrender
in belief and obedience?
Strength conferred
by gnarled hands laid on.
Confirmation
of a good life ahead.
Dressed to represent a bride of
Christ, a baptized child receives the Catholic Sacrament of Confirmation.
When a child is born in the Catholic faith, Baptism is the first sacrament received. Baptism is the one sacrament that all Christian denominations share in common. In the Catholic Church, infants are baptized to welcome them into the Catholic faith and to free them from the original sin they were born with.
From the dawn of Christian history, Baptism and Confirmation have been very closely associated. Confirmation is defined as the sacrament of spiritual strengthening. More concretely, Confirmation strengthens the supernatural life we receive in Baptism. Confirmation increases our sanctifying grace in every way, but mainly in deepening our capacity to remain spiritually alive. It gives us the power of resistance, the ability to resist dangers, and the strength to become more Christ-like until the dawn of eternity.
The above poem, Knowing Fulfillment, describes my remembrance of a day set aside to celebrate the strengthening of my belief in Jesus Christ. For me, as a young girl, it also meant wearing a beautiful new dress hand-crafted by my artistic mother, a fancy cake designed in the shape of a bible, and relatives gathered in love.
When a child is born in the Catholic faith, Baptism is the first sacrament received. Baptism is the one sacrament that all Christian denominations share in common. In the Catholic Church, infants are baptized to welcome them into the Catholic faith and to free them from the original sin they were born with.
From the dawn of Christian history, Baptism and Confirmation have been very closely associated. Confirmation is defined as the sacrament of spiritual strengthening. More concretely, Confirmation strengthens the supernatural life we receive in Baptism. Confirmation increases our sanctifying grace in every way, but mainly in deepening our capacity to remain spiritually alive. It gives us the power of resistance, the ability to resist dangers, and the strength to become more Christ-like until the dawn of eternity.
The above poem, Knowing Fulfillment, describes my remembrance of a day set aside to celebrate the strengthening of my belief in Jesus Christ. For me, as a young girl, it also meant wearing a beautiful new dress hand-crafted by my artistic mother, a fancy cake designed in the shape of a bible, and relatives gathered in love.
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