Pastors, DREs, catechists, parents, and others concerned for religious education and sacramental prep all have some pastoral questions regarding the sacramental life of our children. Clearly, the current practice of separating the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation) as much as 7 seven years from one another seem to be more problematic than helpful, and our theology for such a bit weak. News this week announced that the Archbishop of Denver and his theologians and catechists are hosting a conference to explore the status of the question and see what can be done to better be faithful to a truly Catholic sacramentality.
At last I knew the were 15 dioceses in the USA giving the sacrament of Confirmation at the time of First Communion. We need an evaluation on this practice.
Anthony Lilles, the academic dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, CA, writes on his blog:
The Catechetical Congress draws its name from a passage in the Catechism, “Treasure of Divine Life.” These are notes from a presentation in which we will consider how the signs used in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist have a certain order in the Bible, and this order reveals the splendor of what it means to be fully human and fully alive.
“Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life” (CCC 1210).