(Vatican Radio) Confirmation is a sacrament that completes our bond with Christ and
His Church: that’s what Pope Francis told tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered Wednesday
for the weekly General Audience.
Listen to Tracey McClure's report:
The Pope,
bundled up in a white winter coat on this frigid and overcast day, continued his catechesis
on the seven Sacraments, telling the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square that Confirmation
is “linked inseparably to Baptism.” These two sacraments, together with the Eucharist,
the Holy Father said, “form a unique salvific event: Christian initiation” in which
we become living members of the Church.
Through our anointing with the sacred
chrism, Confirmation strengthens and “confirms” us in the grace of our Baptism, uniting
“us more firmly to Christ.” Confirmation “completes our bond with the Church,” he
noted, and “grants us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the
faith, to confess the name of Christ and to never be ashamed of his cross.”
The
working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, he noted, is reflected in the seven spiritual
gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the
Lord.
Departing from his prepared remarks, Pope Francis several times urged
families to ensure their children receive the sacrament of Confirmation, without which,
he stressed, they’ve only come “half-way.”
When we welcome the Holy Spirit
in our hearts, Christ Himself becomes present in us and takes form in our lives, the
Pope said. Through us and our actions, it will be He "who prays and forgives, gives
hope and consolation, serves our brothers, helps those in need," and helps spread
communion and peace.
In remarks following his catechesis, Pope Francis challenged
authorities to make employment, “a source of dignity, everyone’s central concern.”
He also condemned all forms of usury, saying that when families cannot eat because
they have to pay off loan sharks, “it is not Christian; it is not human.”