Confirmation IS: 

• “A completion of [one’s] baptismal grace.”  Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

“[Confirmation is] a strengthening of [one’s] Baptismal faith.”  Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

“[Confirmation is perfection of] the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism.”  CCC 1305 

• “A more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit— his actions, his gifts, and his biddings— in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life.” CCC 1309

• “[An awakening of] a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community.”  CCC 1309 

“The parish is the faith community into whose life of prayer and worship [the candidates] will be more fully initiated.  It also embodies the message to which they are to respond and gives witness, in service, to the faith they profess.”  The National Catechetical Directory, # 119

“Confirmation…renders our bond with the Church more perfect.”  CCC 1303.

• “A more intimate union with Christ.  CCC 1309

 Confirmation IS NOT:

• Uniquely a sacrament of the Holy Spirit.  It shares this honor with baptism.  Indeed, the two sacraments are not really separate.  Confirmation continues what baptism started.  Confirmation is never independent of baptism; rather it is a completion of baptism.  With the reception of the sacraments of baptism, first Eucharist, and confirmation, one’s baptism is complete and one is a full member of the Catholic Church.

• A rite of passage into adulthood, nor merely a renewal of Christian commitment.  When confirmation is administered to those who are older, these confirmation candidates must be given a choice in the matter.  This choice, though, while perhaps quite significant, is not the main point of the sacrament.  In fact, some legitimate and ancient Catholic liturgical traditions prescribe the confirmation of infants immediately after their baptism and immediately before their first Eucharist.
  
• Required for marriage in the Catholic Church.
   
• A way to keep teens in religious education classes, nor is it a graduation from religious education.  Religious education is a life long process.  Parishes do well to have religious education classes for all four grades of high school, as well as adult education programs

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