Put On the New Self

 JUSTIFICATION & SANCTIFICATION

Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
Psalm 50, 12-14

You should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit
of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way
in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Ephesians 4, 22-24

In the traditional Catholic doctrine of infused righteousness and justification by faith and good works done in charity and grace, God considers an actual transformation within us. He acknowledges the removal of our old apparel in exchange for clothes that resemble Christ’s clothing. The faithful take an active and morally responsible part in their justification by willingly collaborating with the Holy Spirit and cooperating with divine grace. Human free will has a vital and decisive role in their salvation.

Since ancient times, Catholics have believed that they have an active life in grace by allowing it to help them renew their minds and hearts to be righteous as Christ is righteous in his shared humanity. How well they try to renounce their old self, overcome sinful habits, and live a new life in Christ determines how they justly stand before God. A person is either intrinsically righteous or unrighteous depending on how well they respond to the gift of divine grace and collaborate with the Holy Spirit in keeping Christ’s commandments.

If we are reckoned as righteous by God, it is because God has made us so by the regenerative power and influence of His efficacious grace. Since apostolic time, the Catholic Church has taught that justification is not only the remission of sins and the removal of guilt but also the sanctification and renewal of a person. It is an ongoing process of growing in holiness that involves our willing detachment from habitual sin and, thereby, the state of guilt. Justification comprises the purification of one’s soul by removing the stain of sin achieved by a sincere act of contrition and a firm desire for amendment. The grace of sanctification is essentially the divine quality of the human soul. Thus, justification includes reconciliation and healing through the restorative power of the Holy Spirit, who has made us communicants in the divine nature and personally justified by His sanctifying grace.

It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.
Isaiah 43, 25

When God “blots out” (exalipho) our transgressions and “washes” (apolouo) us from our iniquities and “cleanses” (katharitzo) us from our sins, an inner change of heart and contrite spirit are required (Ps. 51:1-2; Acts 3:19; 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Jn. 1:7, 9). God reckons us holy and just in his sight by removing the sins that stain our souls because of our change of heart in a true spirit of conversion and repentance by the prompting of the Holy Spirit and his gifts of grace. Our sins are not simply overlooked and covered up by the merits of Christ and the imputation of his righteousness to our account before God. On the contrary, the righteousness of Christ is “communicated to us” by the infused grace that transforms our nature and renders us just and pleasing to God. The righteousness God sees as intrinsic to us is qualitatively Christ-like, although we can never attain the personal level of our Lord’s righteousness in his divinity. In the words of St. Paul:  “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Phil 2:5).

Although the initial grace of forgiveness and justification is a grace that only Christ can formally merit for us, we can “merit for ourselves and for others an increase in sanctification” to complete our justification and bring about its realization on a personal level in our relationship with God as we “grow in grace and charity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church: Justification and Grace). Thus, by the infusion of God’s grace into our souls, we are not just declared righteous but actually “made” (kathistemi) righteous as divine grace effects a genuine change of heart and an ontological change in our being (Rom. 5:17, 19).

But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Titus 3, 4-7

Putting on the new self begins with faith in God and His promises. As a starting point, our knowledge and love of God are essential requisites for us to welcome the Holy Spirit in our lives and allow Him to produce for us everything that pertains to living a life in faith and devotion to God so that the hope of eternal life with Him can be realized. By allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our fallen human nature, we come “to share in the divine nature” after having “escaped” from the snare of our “evil desires” in a “corrupt world.” For this very reason, we must “make every effort” to ‘supplement our faith with virtue, virtue with the divine gift of knowledge, knowledge with self-control (temperance and moderation), and self-control with endurance.” Only then can our devotion to God translate into being devoted to the interests of others with an affection that is raised to the height of unconditional love, which takes perseverance in faith.

The infused theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, manifested by how we conduct our lives in the Spirit, bear fruit (merit) that lasts to eternal life in and through the merits of our Lord and Saviour. We baptized members of Christ’s body united with the Head mustn’t slumber or be idle in our knowledge of the Lord, who has taught us how to live in grace as adopted children of God. We shall “never stumble” if we “make our call to election firm” through the perseverance of faith. Those who stumble gravely risk being barred from “entering God’s heavenly kingdom” (2 Pet 1:3-11).

Indeed, St. Augustine advises us that it is not enough we should be formally declared justified strictly on the merits of Christ’s righteousness. What is required of us to inherit the kingdom of heaven and be reckoned as just in God’s sight is the righteousness of our own that is wrought by divine grace made available to us through our Lord’s meritorious work in his humanity. Unless we cooperate with God in His dispensation of grace and bear fruit that lasts to eternal life, our faith in Christ’s merits shall do us no good. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter” (Mt. 7:21). And so, God declares us to be inherently righteous and just in His sight because of His work completed in us with our collaboration (Eph 2:8-10).

Saving faith is an active faith on our part. Belief and knowledge are not enough to render us just. Doing good works in charity and grace completes our faith, benefiting our souls. Our spiritual sacrifices and charitable acts of self-denial, whereby we substitute our selfish desires for what God wills and subdue our inordinate love of self for the sake of God’s love and goodness, confer merit on us because they are the result of His grace. God declares us just because that is how He intended to make us, provided we are responsive in a genuine spirit of conversion and invite the Holy Spirit to work in us.

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ;
you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith
the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5, 4-6

For us to understand faith as something active and instrumental in our salvation, we must see how divine grace operates in our lives and saves us with our cooperation. Faith is the starting point in the process of our justification before God. Faith takes a concrete form as we act on the wisdom and knowledge we have received, having placed our trust in God and hope in His promise. These two theological virtues, faith, and hope, enable us to open ourselves to God’s grace so that our minds and hearts are constantly renewed as we become a new creation in Christ by living virtuous lives. Dying to oneself and the ruling spirit of this world by casting off the old self requires a genuine conversion of the heart with the help of divine grace that makes the righteousness we possess our very own characteristics pleasing to God.

We are not passive spectators in the work of the Holy Spirit within us, so the idea of the imputed alien righteousness of Christ to our account in Reformed Protestant theology makes absolutely no sense. Sacred Scripture does reveal that a genuine ontological transformation of our human nature is necessary for us to be reckoned as just in God’s sight. A true spirit of charity – our love of God and neighbor – must inform our faith to make it alive and complete. Love or charity (agape) through which faith works renders it justifiable and profitable for our souls since this infused virtue animates the heart of the believer who has opened himself to the Holy Spirit and the influence of divine grace in faith.

St. Paul advises the Jewish Christians in Galatia that the indwelling Holy Spirit justifies us rather than the external observances of the ceremonial Mosaic law. Sanctifying grace saves us by being the essential means for us to be internally just in and through the merits of Christ, who is the living source of all grace. What Christ has achieved for us by his just merits doesn’t eradicate God’s immutable word: Through love and faithfulness, sin is atoned for (Prov 16, 6).

Since we have been created in God’s image, despite our fallen human nature, we cannot be just in His sight while being unholy in soul and body. God gives us the grace to be holy and just in His sight as He is holy and just, though not absolutely. We cannot partake in the divine nature as adopted sons and daughters of God unless the state of our souls and our lives reflect the divine image in which we have been created. The Greek verb “to justify” (dikaioo), which Paul often uses, means by its -oo stem that God sees us as intrinsically righteous when He declares we are just. Our justification involves an objective change in our nature, not just a relational change in status. What God declares to be just is as real as the light He created at the beginning of time by His efficacious decree (Gen 1:3; Jn 8:12). God creates nothing fictional or synthetic by His Word in the Holy Spirit.

May you be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to live in
a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit (merit) and
growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for
all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the
inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the
kingdom of his beloved Son.
Colossians 1, 9-13

St. Paul clearly intends to tell the Colossians that the righteousness required for their justification before God must be intrinsic to the believer by the efficacy of God’s grace produced for all by Christ alone. There is absolutely no indication that the righteousness they must hold to their credit is one totally alien and extrinsic of themselves. If this were the case, there would be no point for the apostle to exhort the community to “clothe themselves with love and a new self.” It would have made more sense for him to assure them that the filthy garments of their old selves have been covered by the clean and spotless garment of the unblemished Lamb and leave it at that without any further specifications on what it takes for a person to be inherently righteous and reckoned as just in God’s sight.

Thus, we have been called to actively participate in our redemption and have a real share in the divine life by the sanctifying grace of God. Christ is “in” us, and through his Spirit, he works in and through us who truly believe and hope in Him by exercising our faith in charity and grace, leading a life of holiness. Our Lord does not merely shelter us from God’s justice by diverting His entire attention away from us wretched sinners to only Him, who is supposedly taking all the credit on our helpless and totally depraved behalf. Christ alone has merited for us the grace that only he can produce by his passion, death, and resurrection. What righteous believers can merit for themselves or for others is an increase in sanctification and charity in and through Christ’s redeeming merits.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above,
not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3,1-4

In his Letter to the Colossians 3:1-17, perhaps his most powerful and compelling exhortation, St. Paul elaborates on what it means to put on the new self. It requires all baptized Christians to set their minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and not on things on the earth. Clothing ourselves involves being dead to this world and alive in Christ in whom our lives are hidden by our not being children of this world. Only by dying to self can Christ’s glory be revealed to us after we depart from this life. To avoid God's condemning justice, we must strip off our old selves by collaborating with the Holy Spirit and His gifts of grace. Casting off our old self means renouncing our sinful ways and putting to death whatever in us is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, greed, etc., which is idolatry. We must smash all the idols in our lives that come between God and us by ridding ourselves of anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from our mouths.

In exchange for our old clothing, as God’s chosen ones, we must clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We must bear with one another and … forgive each other – by being patient and merciful. Just as the Lord has forgiven us, so we also must forgive. Above all, we should clothe ourselves with love. The peace of Christ must rule in our hearts. Clothing ourselves with the new self means letting the word of Christ dwell and act in us. Finally, we mustn’t forget to thank and praise God the Father for having blessed us with all His gifts of grace so that we may be revealed with Christ in glory now that our Lord has been revealed in our lives on earth.

Thus says the Lord,
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless,
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard…
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation, and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.
Isaiah 58, 7-10

Early Sacred Tradition

“And since many saints participate in the Holy Spirit, He cannot, therefore, be
understood to be a body, which being divided into corporeal parts, is partaken of by each
one of the saints;but He is manifestly a sanctifying power, in which all are said to have a
share who have deservedto be sanctified by His grace.”
Origen, First Principles, I:I,3
(A.D. 230)

“He was made man that we might be made God.”
St. Athanasius, Incarnation 54
(A.D. 318)

“All indeed depends on God, but not so that our free will is hindered. ‘If then it depends on
God,’ (one says), ‘why does He blame us?’ On this account, I said, ‘so that our free will is
not hindered.’ It depends then on us, and on Him For we must first choose the good, and
then He leads us to His own. He does not anticipate our choice, lest our free will should be
outraged. But when we have chosen, then great is the assistance he brings to us… For it is
ours to choose and to wish, but God’s to complete and to bring to an end. Since therefore
the greater part is of Him, he says all is of Him, speaking according to the custom of men.
For so we ourselves also do. I mean for instance: we see a house well built, and we say the
whole is the Architect’s [doing], and yet certainly it is not all his, but the workmen’s also, and
the owner’s, who supplies the materials, and many others’, but nevertheless since he
contributed the greatest share, we call the whole his. So then [it is] in this case also.”
St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews, 12:3
(A.D. 403)

“Thus, it is necessary for a man that he should be not only justified when unrighteous by the
grace of God, that is be changed from unholiness to righteousness when he is requited with
good for his evil; but that even after he has been justified by his faith, grace should
accompany him on his way lest he fall. On this account it is written concerning the Church
herself in Canticles: ‘Who is this who commeth up in white raiment, leaning upon her
kinsman?’ Made white is she who alone could not be made white. And by whom has she been
made white except by Him who says by the prophet, ‘Though your sins be as purple as
scarlet, I will make them white as snow.’ At the time, then, that she was made white, she
deserved nothing good; but now that she is made white, she walketh well; but it is only by her
continuing ever to lean upon Him by whom she was made white. Wherefore, Jesus Himself,
on whom she leans that was made white, said to His disciples, ‘Without me, ye can do
nothing.’ ”
St. Augustine,
On Grace and Free Will, 6:13
(A.D. 427)

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light
shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.”
Matthew 15, 14-16

Pax vobiscum

The Church Is Catholic

 ECCLESIOLOGY

I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world,
and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name,
the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.
John 17, 11

Since Apostolic time, the Church or the unblemished bride of Christ has understood herself to be catholic. By definition, we mean a visible society of baptized Christians from all around the world professing the same faith under the authority of the invisible head, who is Christ, and the authority of the visible head, his vicar, the pope, and the world’s bishops in communion with the Roman Pontiff.

The apostles themselves knew that their Lord and Master had established his Church to be visibly one and hierarchical for the unity of faith and consistent transmission of the deposit of faith from one generation of believers to the next without error under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16; 16:12-13). For instance, none of the apostles dared to question or challenge Peter’s authority to speak for the entire Church and resolve a disputed doctrinal issue such as whether baptized Gentiles ought to be circumcised like the Jews. Rather, they listened to what Peter had to say in silence and accepted his word as final for the Church to receive without objection (See Acts 15). The debate that went on at the council in Jerusalem may never have been resolved or accepted by everyone with a moral certainty of faith if it wasn’t believed that Peter had the universal primacy of authority to reach or ratify a final verdict for the whole Church to confidently accept in unity (Mt 16:20).

The New Testament (Covenant) Church was catholic in every religious sense of the word. There are several key passages in Scripture that reflect how the Church perceived herself through the knowledge she received from the Holy Spirit in the sanctifying light of faith. First of all, Jesus says that a city (Jerusalem) “set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14). Our Lord is referring to his Church (the new Jerusalem that has come down from heaven), which is essentially a visible church and a unity of members who comprise his Mystical Body. The Church isn’t simply a pneumatic construct in which there is an invisible unity of spirit but a visible division that really makes no difference beyond the fundamental tenets of the Apostles’ Creed. Indeed, Jesus warns us that “a kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and cannot stand” (Mt 12:25; Mk 3:25; Lk 11:17). This scenario best describes the miserable state Protestantism finds itself in from the time of its inception in the sixteenth century, what with the myriads of autonomous and independent denominations that differ on many fine points of doctrine on faith and morals while appealing to the same Scriptures supposedly under the guidance of one and the same Holy Spirit.

Jesus clearly stated that he would build his “church” on Peter the rock and the apostles who are in communion with the Lord’s vicar. He said nothing about ‘churches’ (Mt 16:18). Unity of faith wisely requires a visible body under a visible head, which in turn represents and is accountable to the invisible head, who is Christ. A visible church cannot exist without a visible head who rules visibly by ‘binding and loosening’ so that the Church may be visibly united in faith and, in that sense, be truly catholic. Protestantism amounts to being nothing more than a divided religious movement consisting of countless churches with independent visible heads or ruling bodies in some shape or form.

Jesus himself told the apostles there must be only “one flock and one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). This means one visible flock, one visible shepherd, and one invisible shepherd who is Christ in heaven. It’s obvious that Jesus intended his Church to be structured this way since he prayed that his followers may be perfectly one as he is one with the Father (Jn 17:11, 21, 23). There is perfect oneness only in the one true Church founded by Christ, which is the Catholic Church, despite the heresies, divisions, and schisms that have arisen throughout the ages because of rogue clerics and arrogant academicians who divorced themselves from Christ’s vision and rejected his institutions.

Surely, Our Lord foresaw all the turmoil that would historically arise in the Church, notably from the time of Arius in the early fourth century, when he said to his apostles, “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Mt 12:30). Only by listening to what Peter and the apostles say, and thereby their appointed successors in the episcopal office until Christ returns, can there be perfect unity in the one, visible, and hierarchical Church. Those who refuse to listen to and reject the ruling and teaching authority of the Universal Magisterium, in fact, refuse to listen to Christ and reject the authority that was given to him by his heavenly Father and then transferred to Peter and the Apostles (Lk 10:16).

​Until this time, Christian denominations were the creation of men and women who were presumed to be invested with the divine authority to teach and rule in the name of Christ, totally indifferent to the institutions which Our Lord established on the concrete foundation of Peter and the Apostles. Denominationalism is anti-Christ. So is its negative counterpart: Non-denominationalism (essentially a sub-denomination in Protestantism), which ironically holds Christ never founded a single corporate religious entity (or entities) in the first place. This is a modern religious phenomenon that bears the characteristics of ancient Gnosticism.

In any event, the apostles and the faithful men whom they appointed to join and succeed them in the divine offices of the episcopacy and priesthood (presbyterium) kept Christ’s vision in their minds and hearts. The New Testament church was indeed the Catholic Church in mind and spirit. Paul exhorted the body of believers in Rome to live in harmony with one another (Rom 15:5). There can be no visibly unified body and one mind in faith as long as there are dissenters in the ranks who create divisions in opposition to the apostolic teaching authority. 

On the contrary, these false teachers must be avoided at all costs and shouldn’t be listened to (Rom 16: 17). For the Church to be truly catholic and remain catholic, Christians must be on guard against those who dispute Church teachings and create controversies by proposing their own misguided notions and misleading the flock with their confusing rhetoric (1 Tim 6:4). The Judaizers and Ebionites are clear examples. For the Church to be catholic, there must be a universal teaching authority of appeal that can trace its authority back to Christ. This was the case at the council in Jerusalem. Those who rejected the decisions of the council fell out of communion with the one true Church.

Paul fervently prayed like Jesus had that there be no dissensions and disagreements among Christians, and they might be of one mind and one spirit for the sake of perfect unity (1 Cor 1:10). After all, the Church is the visible ‘body’ of Christ, not Our Lord’s invisible spirit or soul (Eph 1:22-23; 5:23-32; Col 1:18, 24). Jesus has only one bride, not many brides who believe and think somewhat differently on fine points of doctrine and morals (Eph 5:25). Peter called for a unity of spirit, which is what Catholicism is all about (1 Pt 3:8). But this is impossible if Christians are of different minds and hearts and indifferent to the established central teaching authority of the Church because of how they feel or what they might think. Such people do not belong to the Church and have dismembered themselves from the body, even to the point of ex-communication or schism. God isn’t the author of confusion but of peace and reconciliation (1 Cor 14:33).

The Holy Spirit isn’t the source of countless denominations that keep popping up around the world and are divided. The prophet Daniel foresaw the creation of the Catholic Church, whose divine author is Our Lord Jesus Christ. He envisioned a single body of people from all nations serving His kingdom on earth (Dan 7:14). The Church isn’t a democracy with different political or religious parties but rather a kingdom and monarchical entity (Rev 7:9-10).

Bishop Ignatius of Antioch (c. A.D. 110) was a follower or student of the apostle John. Perhaps the evangelist even ordained him. As an apostolic successor in the divine office, His Excellency reveals how the Church is intended to be visibly one and catholic in the biblical sense of the word. He says, “See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Christ Jesus does the Father… Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church” (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, 8:2). Catholicism amounts to respecting the visible episcopal authority and acknowledging the validity of the Blessed Sacrament only when it is celebrated and administered by one who can trace his priestly ordination back to the apostles themselves (with the laying on of hands) in a physical and associated line of succession (cf. Acts 6:6; 9:17-19; 13:3; 1 Tim 4:14).

Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Bishop of present-day Lyons, France, was a student of Polycarp who, according to early tradition, was also tutored in the faith by the apostle John. The key point of Irenaeus’ theology was the unity and the goodness of God, in opposition to the Gnostics’ theory of God: a plurality of divine emanations (Aeons) and a distinction between the Monad and the Demiurge. There were many Gnostic sects of different shades of persuasion that arose in the second century. Gnostics believed they were Christian in their spirituality, which they considered more important than any particular religious affiliation. And they were Christians of truly diverse viewpoints. But what all these cults shared in common were belief systems for attaining secret knowledge or gnosis. Gnostic sects were in direct competition with the teachings of the nascent Catholic Church. These sects rejected the Apostolic teaching authority of the one true Church with respect to Christ’s person in the incarnation.

In his contention with the Gnostics, notably Marcion, Irenaeus writes: “Those, therefore, who desert the preaching of the Church, call in question the knowledge of the holy presbyters…It behooves us, therefore, to avoid their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we suffer any injury from them; but to flee to the Church, and be brought up in her bosom, and be nourished with the Lord’s Scriptures” (Against Heresies, 5:20). He refers to their leaders as “ these teachers who are destitute of truly divine wisdom… while the Catholic Church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world.”

Irenaeus understood what the word catholic meant to the New Testament Church as opposed to the superficial pluralism of the Gnostic sects in his day: “But it has, on the other hand, been shown, that the preaching of the Church is everywhere consistent, and continues in an even course, and receives testimony from the prophets, the apostles, and all the disciples…For in the Church, it is said, ‘God hath set apostles, prophets, teachers,’ and all the other means through which the Spirit works; of which all those are not partakers who do not join themselves to the Church, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse opinions and infamous behavior. For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace; but the Spirit is truth” (Ibid., 1.10.3). Thus, Irenaeus affirmed the true Church as one in faith, visible instead of invisible or purely pneumatic and hierarchical. The One Holy Spirit ensured the transmission of the one true and indisputable faith through the institution of Apostolic succession.

Further, Cyprian of Carthage (A.D. 254) testifies how the early Church understood itself to be catholic by presenting his point of view: “Whence you ought to know that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church in the bishop; and if anyone is not with the bishop, that he is not in the Church, and that those flatter themselves in vain who creep in, not having peace with God’s priests, and think that they communicate secretly with some; while the Church, which is Catholic and one, is not cut nor divided, but is indeed connected and bound together by the cement of priests who cohere with one another” (To Florentius, Epistle 66/67). The Alexandrian priest Arius, however, broke with tradition and decided to interpret the Scriptures on his own personal authority, not unlike Marcion, and presumed to teach that the Son didn’t eternally co-exist with the Father nor was consubstantial with Him. But to be Catholic, one must obediently follow the dogmas of the Church in union with all the faithful. Arius never recanted and, unfortunately, brought most of the Eastern Church bishops on his side. As a result, the Church (or rather the Roman emperor) was compelled to convoke the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. This is the decision reached by the bishops who attended the council: “But for those who say, ‘There was when He was not, and, Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance’… these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.”

Cyril of Jerusalem (A.D. 350) describes in Pauline fashion what it means for the Church to be catholic: “Concerning this Holy Catholic Church Paul writes to Timothy, ‘That thou mayest know how thou ought to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’” (Catechetical Lectures, 18:25). There is only one God and one divine truth, which the Church possesses by the presence of the Spirit of truth. The life of the Church has its source in the life of God, whose Spirit ensures that the bride of Christ remains unblemished in her faith and guarantees that the truth is made known for all to accept without questioning the apostolic teaching authority that all began with Peter and the Apostles in communion with him, that the Church be visibly one in the faith and one body of believers.

“We are not to give heed to those who say, Behold here is Christ, but show him
not in the Church, which is filled with brightness from the East even unto the West; which is
filled with true light; is the ‘pillar and ground of truth’; in which, as a whole, is the whole advent
of the Son of Man, who saith to all men throughout the universe, ‘Behold, I am with you all
the days of life even unto the consumption of the world.’”
Origen, Commentary on Matthew, Tract 30
(A.D. 244)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every
nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a
loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7, 9-10

Pax vobiscum

The Seal of the Holy Spirit

 The Sacrament of Confirmation

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the
promised Holy Spirit;
Ephesians 1, 13

In Catholic teaching, a sacrament is a visible sign that points to an invisible reality. As a means of divine grace, a sacrament constitutes an event in the life of a Christian from the point of initiation into the faith that is both physical and spiritual. The Sacrament of Baptism, for instance, is physical in that blessed water is used on the recipient by either pouring water on their heads or immersing them in water. This sacrament is spiritual in that the water washes the soul and cleanses it from the stain of original sin by the operation of the Holy Spirit. In effect, the soul is sanctified and healed by divine grace, and the believer is restored to standing just before God and regenerated from being a child of Adam to being an adopted child of God. A sacrament presupposes the faith of the recipient. A sacrament nourishes and strengthens the soul and allows the recipient to express their faith by joining their words with the sacramental elements.

According to the Catholic Dictionary, a sacrament is “a sensible sign, instituted by Jesus Christ, by which invisible grace and inward sanctification are communicated to the soul. The essential elements of a sacrament of the New Law are institution by Christ the God-man during his visible stay on earth and a sensibly perceptible rite that confers the supernatural grace it symbolizes. In a broad sense, every external sign of an internal divine blessing is a sacrament. And in this sense, there were already sacraments in the Old Law, such as circumcision. But, as the Council of Trent defined, these ancient rites differed essentially from the sacraments of the New Law; they did not really contain the grace they signified, nor was the fullness of grace yet available through visible channels merited and established by the Savior.” A sacrament derives its efficacy ex opere operato, by which we mean it is effective independently from the merits of the minister and the recipient. Its effect is produced by the Holy Spirit's operation through the ritual act's formula.

In the Catholic faith, a sacrament is administered in a symbolic rite that allows a person to connect with God. It is an outward sign of an objective inward reality instituted by Christ to channel his grace. The sacramental symbols or elements translate physical realities into spiritual realities, thereby joining the physical world with the spiritual world, just as the human person is a composite of body and soul. In the physical world, we are drawn to God, who is Spirit, and connected to Him as His children through the medium of a sacrament. By receiving a sacrament, we ascend from the physical to the spiritual reality while connecting the two as we continue living in this world to attain eternal life with God through His grace.

There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, the Eucharist, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Matrimony, and Holy Orders. The seven sacraments “touch all the stages and important moments in the Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing, and mission to the Christian’s life of faith.” Therefore, there is “a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of supernatural life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1210). These seven sacraments are categorized into three groups: the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist), the sacraments of healing (Penance or Reconciliation, the Anointing of the Sick), and the sacraments of service (Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders). All seven sacraments are God-given gifts given to us out of love.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
Acts 1, 8

In this article, we will examine the Sacrament of Confirmation that essentially confers the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (See Isaiah 11:1-2). As with all the sacraments, the recipient of the Sacrament of Confirmation must first be baptized and be at least seven years old. Normally, Catholic children are confirmed between the ages of ten and twelve, having reached greater intellectual and moral maturity.

The Sacrament of Baptism or Initiation is completed by the Sacrament of Confirmation since the Christian is “enriched and strengthened” by the Holy Spirit when they are confirmed and “bound more closely to the Church as members of Christ’s mystical body” (CCC, 1285). The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit aid the faithful in fulfilling their baptismal commitments.

Moreover, grace is added to grace to enable the believer to continue to grow in holiness and strive for divine perfection as a partaker of the divine life in the hope of inheriting eternal life with God. The baptized Samarians received the fullness of the Holy Spirit when the elders confirmed them (Acts 8:14-17). They received this sacrament that was instituted by Christ to further strengthen them in their faith as adults. Catholics believe Jesus instituted the sacrament or the rite of Confirmation when he promised to send another counselor to empower his disciples to bear witness (Jn 14:16; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 2:1-4). Through the waters of baptism, we become disciples and followers of Christ. Whether we are baptized as infants, adolescents, or adults, we are always in spiritual formation and growth.

Baptism is a call to discipleship. This call to discipleship and obedience is a call to subjugate our lives to the teachings of Christ and the Word of God. Being baptized expresses the desire to be immersed in the word and will of God. Seeking God’s will for us is a natural derivative of baptism, and this involves being willing to enter into a life of service to God and others by performing corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Without the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, we couldn’t possibly live up to our baptismal commitments in the steadfastness of faith and thereby be rewarded with the gift of eternal life (2 Cor 5:1-10; Eph 1:13-14; 4:30).

I believe it is Paul who gives instructions about the “laying on of hands” concerning the Sacrament of Confirmation and having reached the age of maturity (Heb 6: 2). Indeed, he laid hands on the baptized Ephesians to seal them with the Holy Spirit so that they should receive His gifts to be faithful disciples and followers of Christ (Acts 19:5-6). “There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people. The Holy Spirit is specially given to each of us. That is for the good of all” (1 Cor 12:4-7).

Paul continues by enumerating what the special gifts of the Holy Spirit are for those who have been confirmed by the laying on of hands. “To some people, the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others, the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others, the same Spirit gives faith. To others, that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others, he gives the power to do miracles. To others, he gives the ability to prophesy. To others, he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others, he allows them to speak different languages they had not known before. To others, he gives them the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides” (1 Cor 12:8-11). Jesus himself declares that his heavenly Father has set His seal on him (Jn 6:27). In turn, Jesus sets his seal on the Apostles and all his disciples in the initiatory sacraments of Baptism and afterward Confirmation (Rev 14:1).

The anointing with oil in the rite of Confirmation signifies and imprints a spiritual seal. “Anointing, in Biblical and other ancient symbolism, is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing before and after a bath) and limbers (the anointing of athletes and wrestlers); oil is a sign of healing since it is soothing to bruises and wounds; and it makes radiant with beauty, health, and strength.” Moreover, “anointing with oil has all these meanings in the sacramental life. The pre-baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies cleansing and strengthening; the anointing of the sick expresses healing and comfort. The post-baptismal anointing with sacred chrism in Confirmation and ordination is the sign of consecration. By Confirmation, Christians, that is, those who are anointed, share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled so that their lives may give off “the aroma of Christ” (cf. 2 Cor 2:15) (CCC, 1294).

By this anointing with oil, those confirmed receive the ”mark” or the “seal” of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a sign or mark of “personal authority.” We who have been baptized and confirmed have the authority to evangelize or give witness to the faith by our words and actions because we bear the seal of the Holy Spirit. The seal of the Holy Spirit also signifies that we are God’s possession and must hold our allegiance to Christ. In other words, we are divine property and servants of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ who must live our lives in keeping with his laws and serve others in love just as our Lord came into this world to serve humanity in love through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy (Mk 10:42-45; Jn 13:14; 15:12; Rom 15:14; Gal 5:13; 6:2; Eph 4:32; 5:21; 1 Thess 5:11; Heb 6:10; Phil 2:7; 1 Jn 4:7; 1 Pet 2:21; 2 Pet 4:10, etc.).

Paul tells us: “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; he has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor 1:21-22). Thus, the seal of the Holy Spirit marks our belonging to Christ and, through him, our Father in heaven. The common priesthood of all believers is joined with the ministerial priesthood of the ordained clergy. Our enrollment in his service is a lifetime with the divine protection of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:5). So, we who have been baptized and confirmed mustn’t “grieve the Holy Spirit” but remain faithful in our life of service to God and neighbor (Eph 4:30).

The celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation is preceded by the consecration of the sacred chrism, which, in a sense, is still part of the administration of the sacrament. Chrism is the holy oil through which the sacrament is conferred. In the Roman Catholic rite, a bishop anoints the head of the confirmand with the chrism, including laying on hands. The anointment signifies the full bestowment of grace on the recipient. As the bishop stretches his hand over each confirmand, he invokes the Holy Spirit upon them for His special outpouring of gifts. The sacred chrism symbolizes the inner healing and strength needed to be genuine followers of Christ.

Thus, the Sacrament of Confirmation is important because it allows the baptized believer to confirm their baptismal promises and enables them to fully live up to their baptismal commitments in charity and grace. The bishop invokes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these words:

“All-powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you freed your
sons and daughters from sin and gave them new life. Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their
helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment
and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in
your presence. We ask this through Christ our Lord.”

The sign of peace that concludes the sacramental rite signifies and demonstrates ecclesial communion with the bishop and with all the faithful.

Hence, the effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was once granted to the apostles and the disciples in the upper room on Pentecost. Confirmation brings a deepening of grace by rooting us more deeply “in the divine filiation,” uniting us “more firmly in Christ,” increasing “the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us,” rendering our “bond with the Church more perfect,” and giving us “a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.”

Not unlike Baptism, which it completes, the sacrament is given only once. This is because it also imprints an indelible spiritual mark on the soul (the character), which is “the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.” (CCC, 1303) A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15, 13

Early Sacred Tradition

“And about your laughing at me and calling me “Christian,” you know not what you are saying.
First, because that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For
what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy unless it be first caulked [anointed]? Or what castle
or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he
enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either
ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under
heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed with
the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account because we are anointed with
the oil of God.”
St. Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, I:12
(A.D. 181)

“‘And she said to her maids, Bring me oil.’ For faith and love prepare oil and unguents to those
who are washed. But what were these unguents, but the commandments of the holy Word? And
what was the oil, but the power of the Holy Spirit, with which believers are anointed as with
ointment after the layer of washing? All these things were figuratively represented in the blessed
Susannah, for our sakes, that we who now believe on God might not regard the things that are
done now in the Church as strange but believe them all to have been set forth in figure by the
patriarchs of old, as the apostle also says: ‘Now these things happened unto them for ensamples:
and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come.’”
St. Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel, 6;18
(A.D. 204)

“It is also necessary that he should be anointed who is baptized; so that, having
received the chrism, that is, the anointing, he may be anointed of God, and have
in him the grace of Christ. Further, it is the Eucharist whence the baptized are
anointed with the oil sanctified on the altar. But he cannot sanctify the creature
of oil, who has neither an altar nor a church; whence also there can be no
spiritual anointing among heretics, since it is manifest that the oil cannot be
sanctified nor the Eucharist celebrated at all among them. But we ought to know
and remember that it is written, ‘Let not the oil of a sinner anoint my head,’
which the Holy Spirit before forewarned in the Psalms, lest anyone going out of
the way and wandering from the path of truth should be anointed by heretics
and adversaries of Christ.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage, To Januarius, Epistle 70/69:2
(A.D. 255)

“‘And your floors shall be filled with wheat, and the presses shall overflow
equally with wine and oil.’… This has been fulfilled mystically by Christ, who gave
to the people whom He had redeemed, that is, to His Church, wheat and wine and
oil in a mystic manner…the oil is the sweet unguent with which those who are
baptized are signed, being clothed in the armaments of the Holy Spirit.”
St. Ephraim of Syria, On Joel 2:24
(ante A.D. 373)

“And then remember that you received the seal of the Spirit; the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge
and godliness, and the spirit of holy fear, and preserved what you received. God
the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you, and gave the earnest
of the Spirit in your heart, as you have learned in the lesson from the Apostle.”
St. Ambrose, On the Mysteries, 7:42
(A.D. 391)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate
to help you and be with you forever.
John 14, 16

Pax vobiscum