Continued from Part I…
When I left off, I was discussing the negative effects of celebrating confirmation during high school. But this also creates some problems with consistency. As I mentioned in passing in Part I, the eastern churches confirm babies just after baptism., then give them holy communion (but that’s another matter). In the Easter vigil, the rite of confirmation is celebrated following the baptisms, but still before the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
hBaptism – Confirmation – Eucharist is the true order that these sacraments ought to be celebrated in. One upside to this is that you receive confirmation at the same Mass at which you receive your first communion, which means you would be able to receive first communion from the bishop as well! Pretty cool…
But this ideal can be disconnected from reality at times. Very few dioceses confirm before first communion. However, that is beginning to change. Just recently, a US bishop restored the order of sacraments in his diocese, and the holy father praised him publicly for it, then asked him if he were talking to other bishops about it.
In response, he said, the Pope asked if he had “begun to speak to other bishops about this.” He told the pontiff that he had and that “certainly bishops within the Dakotas are now really looking towards the implementation in the restoration in the ordering of the sacraments.”
Is this a sign of things to come? I sure hope so.
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