Day 175: Introduction to Confirmation

Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." CCC 1285

Today's reading from the Catechism is an introduction to the Sacrament of Confirmation or Chrismation in the East. In this sacrament, Christians receive "a special strength of the Holy Spirit" and "the completion of baptismal grace". The Catechism Compendium summarizes the place that this sacrament has in the "divine plan of salvation":

In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the awaited Messiah and on the entire messianic people. The whole life and mission of Jesus were carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and proclaimed “the great works of God” (Acts 2:11). They gave the gift of the same Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands. Down through the centuries, the Church has continued to live by the Spirit and to impart him to her children. (#265)

I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II puts it:

Confirmation unites a baptized person more completely to the Church. The Apostles themselves needed the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost... In the sacrament of Confirmation, we too are filled with the power of the Spirit to better share Christ's mission with the world, and this mission will also stop without us as witnesses. Confirmation mirrors Pentecost. (p. 114) 

A typical Western image of the Pentecost. Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308).

This artwork depicts Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to empower the followers of Christ to go out boldly into the world and preach the Gospel. We, too, receive the power and grace of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation (see CCC 1288). (p. 115)