When did you receive your sacraments?<\/p>\n
Most of us in the United States were baptized as babies.\u00a0 We then receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and our First Eucharist around the age of reason (7).\u00a0 Then, the next sacrament we receive would be Confirmation.\u00a0 In the United States Confirmation is typically done\u00a0sometime between the\u00a0ages of seven to eighteen.<\/p>\n
This is a wide range.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Many have been taught that Confirmation is a sacrament of maturity<\/em>.\u00a0 So the question becomes when is one mature enough to receive Confirmation.\u00a0 For many, the phrase “sacrament of maturity” is interpreted to mean we have graduated from our religious education.\u00a0 Others see\u00a0Confirmation as when we become adults in the church.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Confirmation is neither graduation nor becoming an adult in the church.<\/p>\n Both graduation and becoming an adult can be seen as “rites of passage” meaning they mark a transition from one stage of life to another.\u00a0 Confirmation as a “sacrament of maturity” meaning that we have come to a new awareness of faith but we must realize that we still have a lot to learn.\u00a0 In this sense Confirmation is considered a “Sacrament of Initiation.”<\/p>\n There are three Sacraments of Initation; Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.\u00a0 Baptism is clearly an initation into God’s family.\u00a0 Confirmation is initiation as marking our growing in awareness of faith.\u00a0 Eucharist is considering the final<\/em> step in initiation.\u00a0 In receiving the Eucharist, our entry into God’s family reaches a new level.<\/p>\n Note that I say the Church sees the Eucharist as the final<\/em> sacrament of initiation.\u00a0 That means that both<\/em> Baptism and Confirmation should be received before our First Communion.\u00a0 Why hasn’t this been the case?<\/p>\n For centuries, Confirmation, First Eucharist, and First Penance were all received around the age of twelve.\u00a0 Early in the 2oth Century, Pope Pius XII realized that children under the age of twelve had sufficienct understanding of the Eucharist to receive Communion.\u00a0 He lowered the age of First Communion to seven years old.\u00a0 There was no change in the age of Confirmation.\u00a0 So the order became Baptism, First Communion, and then Confirmation.\u00a0 This is the order most of us grew up with.<\/p>\n With the Second Vatican Council there was a great interest in examing the historical customs of the Church.\u00a0 This led to a new awareness of the order of the Sacraments.\u00a0 The term\u00a0Restored Order<\/em> is now used to signify receiving the Sacraments in their original order of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist (if you attend the Easter Vigil you will see this is the order in which the elect receive their sacraments).<\/p>\n Then, under the model of Restored Order<\/em>, what is the proper age to receive the Sacraments?\u00a0 Baptism continues to be done on babies.\u00a0 At the age of seven, one is considered to have reached the “age of reason” and is ready to receive Confirmation and Eucharist.\u00a0 In this model, then, Confirmation and First Communion happen at the same Mass, first Confirmation after the homily, and then they receive their First Communion with the rest of the congregation.<\/p>\n Restored Order<\/em> for children is not yet a universal practice of the church but it is an honest effort to follow the original customs of the Church.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When did you receive your sacraments? Most of us in the United States were baptized as babies.\u00a0 We then receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and our First Eucharist around the age of reason (7).\u00a0 Then, the next sacrament we receive would be Confirmation.\u00a0 In the United States Confirmation is typically done\u00a0sometime between the\u00a0ages of seven …<\/p>\n