Confirmation preaching: More goodness and mission, less guilt and sin

“You are loved, warts and all.” Bishop Emeritus Patrick J. McGrath of San Jose said it at every Confirmation—and liturgist Diana Macalintal never tired of hearing it. In this episode of “Preach,” she recalls a bishop’s confirmation homily that “quickly devolved into an exploration of sin and evil,” complete with exorcisms and damnation. Like composing music, this preacher “did not emphasize the right notes—the right message,” she says. “Confirmation is all about strengthening the goodness that is in there, giving us the grace to do the hard things, to do the beautiful things in the world.”

But don’t avoid reality either. “For those who are being confirmed, these are oftentimes teenagers where real life is life and death. Whether it is or not, it is drama all the time.” Name those struggles, she urges, “in the context of this gift of the Spirit and how they can do their part in the mission of Christ.”

Diana also challenges a common assumption: there's no obligation to choose a saint's name at confirmation. Church teaching honors our given names as "icons of a person." At St. Columba in Oakland, Calif., her historically Black parish, "for so many, their ancestors' names were taken away" during enslavement. "Honor the names that are given," she says, "because somebody loved that child enough to give them that gift."

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