“I was very surprised in what the Pope said to me, in terms of how happy he was that the sacraments of initiation have been restored to their proper order of baptism, confirmation then first Eucharist,” said Bishop Aquila, after meeting Pope Benedict on March 8.
Over the past seven years the Diocese of Fargo has changed the typical order of the sacraments of initiation. Instead of confirmation coming third and at an older age, it is now conferred on children at a younger age and prior to First Communion.
Bishop Aquila said he made the changes because “it really puts the emphasis on the Eucharist as being what completes the sacraments of initiation” and on confirmation as “sealing and completing baptism.”
When the sacraments are conferred in this order, he said, it becomes more obvious that “both baptism and confirmation lead to the Eucharist.” This sacramental assistance helps Catholics live “that intimate relationship of being the beloved sons and daughters of the Father in our daily lives,” he added.
The Bishop of Fargo said the changes have also distanced the Sacrament of Confirmation from “some false theologies that see it as being a sacrament of maturity or as a sacrament for ‘me choosing God.’”
Instead, young people in Fargo now have “the fullness of the spirit and the completion of the gifts of the spirit” to assist them in “living their lives within the world,” especially “in the trials they face in junior high and high school.”
Bishop Aquila explained his theological thinking to Pope Benedict during today’s meeting.
In response, he said, the Pope asked if he had “begun to speak to other bishops about this.” He told the pontiff that he had and that “certainly bishops within the Dakotas are now really looking towards the implementation in the restoration in the ordering of the sacraments.”
My Comments: I like what Fargo's bishop has done and I'm glad I'm in good company with the Holy Father who likes it too! In the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as in the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church (Eastern Orthodoxy who are in union with the Bishop of Rome)the order of the Sacraments have always been since the beginning of the Church, Baptism, Confirmation (Chrismation) and Holy Eucharist. These Sacraments are celebrated for both adults, children and infants, similar to what the Latin Rite does only for adults received into the Church--at the Easter Vigil, we baptize, confirm and offer the Holy Eucharist.
In the Eastern Rite, Infants are immediately "chrismated" after they are baptized (there is a remnant of this in the Latin Rite, with the anointing of the crown of the head of the infant with Sacred Chrism). Then in the Eastern Rite the infant is given a "drop or two" of the Precious Blood by way of a sacred spoon. Children are free to receive Holy Communion whenever they are capable of doing so. In fact at St. Joseph Church we had a family from Jordan whose children were receiving Holy Communion way before the age of reason for they were Eastern Rite Catholics.
What do you think about returning for children the right order of the sacraments but keeping the bishop in the loop?
My recommendation would be to continue infant baptism as we do it. Then in the first and second grades prepare children for Penance, Confirmation and Holy Communion.
We would have to more closely link Penance to Baptism rather than the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick as Penance for a child who has reached the age of reason should be viewed as an on-going renewal of the "gift of forgiveness" of Holy Baptism. So I wouldn't see anything "disordered" with a child who has reached the age of reason receiving First Penance before Confirmation, if Confirmation and Holy Eucharist are delayed to Second Grade.
Then the Bishop would come to the parish to Confirm the Second Graders and they would then receive their First Holy Communion at that same Mass.
The question is, how will this affect lukewarm or nominal Catholics who may never bring their kids back to Church again? At least with having Confirmation in the 9th grade, we do have lukewarm or nominal parents enrolling their children in Confirmation class. What do we do about that? How does the Eastern Rite handle that? That would be my only anxiety as a pastor, lukewarm, nominal Catholic parents letting their teenage children fall through the cracks.
4 comments:
I think this is a terrific idea. As for the nominally Catholic who would at least have to bring their kids to Confirmation classes, I believe that, with rare exception, the teenagers are going to practice by the same example that their parents set. I am also concerned that in many cases, these classes cause more harm than good. Painful as it is to admit the DRE's of many parishes have no business teaching religion in the first place and most of these programs are staffed by laity, which means a wild divergence in orthodoxy and quality.
There's one other important benefit that we may be overlooking. The graces of this sacrament would be released in children at a much younger age. If it's just a ritual to us, then I suppose we should continue with all the restrictions and requirements. But if it truly imparts to us a miraculous grace from God and bestows a character on the soul, then we should definitely stop making our children wait.
I noticed this story elsewhere and have given it some thought. My thoughts are these: I want the laity to be faithful followers and the clergy to be faithful leaders. I followed my pastors into some poor decisions based on their cavalier attitudes and surrender to the temptations of clericalism I can see as natural to the office of a priest. I have no grudge to bear over that as long as they acknowledge that mistake and set a course correction for this Bark back to the Truth. That Truth is 'long written down' and easily found. Changes, such as this one, should be well considered with the strict objective to catechize the faithful and set Light for us on the path to Truth.
We laugh at the clown mass, yet it was derived from someone's interpretation of what was done in the past. Even the debate over the direction the priest faces, whether we kneel, and on and on, came from people 'going back to what was done in history'. Those missteps and experiments did not help and probably even hurt the entire congregation, clergy and laity.
So from where we stand today, before making any change to Sacraments, or anything, we need to look up a little and see if that is a milestone on the way to Truth, or an obstacle to getting there. I don't want the clergy to solicit my input on this matter any more than I want them to ask my opinion how we will incorporate pop music into Liturgy, the cost of birth control, or the best brand of condoms. If on the other hand there is a peripatetic in use to help me get my adult mind around a concept, to show me why the best translations are more important than the ones that can be sung to a good beat; then by all means, proceed.
rcg
rcg is right...this issue isn't the laity's department.
While it's true that our later Confirmation often serves as an opportunity to bring back the lukewarms, and a tool to assist the faithful parents in preparing their youngsters for the journey ahead, we shouldn't, in my opinion, let such thoughts guide the order of the Sacraments.
Why should young children be denied the Grace the Sacrament imparts?
Would there be less need to re-reign in the young if this Grace had been given to them earlier?
I wonder what Bishop Aguila's experience has been?
What about the experience of the Eastern Rite Catholics' early teenagers?
The Holy Father is pleased...that says a lot to me.
~SqueekerLamb
The practical part of me wants to tell the Pope to make this change universal after appropriate catechesis. Could you imagine some dioceses do it and others not with our very mobile population today? What does Fargo do when children who haven't been confirmed need it. They still have to have Confirmation classes for these kids.
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