From the Rector: Pentecost

Pentecost

Congratulations to all those Confirmed today!  It is a great joy to once again be celebrating The Conferral of the Sacrament of Confirmation upon the youth of our local parishes by Bishop Wall on this Solemn Feast of Pentecost.
It is a time for all of us to reflect on the responsibilities and commitment to our faith that necessarily comes with the completion of the sacraments of initiation.
The following interview was recently given our Confirmandi to give them the opportunity to express and affirm their belief in the content of the Catholic Faith.

I invite you to renew your Baptismal promises.
V. Do you reject Satan? And all his works? And all his empty promises? [Rite of Baptism]
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? [Rite of Baptism]
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? [Rite of Baptism]
V. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? [Rite of Baptism]

In order to assist you in declaring  your belief in the Gospel, I ask you:
V. Do you believe with firm faith, everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgement or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed? [Oath of Fidelity]

V. Do you also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals? [Oath of Fidelity]

In regard to the Sacraments,
V. Do you believe that Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law, and that there are seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony? [CCC 1210]

V. Do you believe that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace, because “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]

Concerning the Most Holy Eucharist:
V. Do you believe that because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood? [CCC 1376]
Concerning Holy Matrimony
V. Do you believe that the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized? [CIC 1055, 1]
V. Do you affirm that the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved?
V. Do you affirm that grave offenses against marriage and chastity which are contrary to the natural law and which close the sexual act to the gift of life can under no circumstances be approved and [CCC 2357]
are seriously morally disordered? [cf. CCC 2351-2356]

The Precepts of the Church are as follows:
The first precept: You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.
The second precept: You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
The third precept:You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.
The fourth precept:You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.
The fifth precept:You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.
Do you will to uphold the precepts of the Church in so far as possible?
Concerning the Moral life
V. Do you affirm that all Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life and that the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his affective life in chastity? [CCC 2348]