Confirmation — A New Name, A New Life with Christ

I am so excited that 97 young adults are about to be Confirmed within our Collaborative! Despite all the turmoil in our world and the challenges brought upon us by COVID, these faith-filled disciples of Christ have stayed the course and are now ready to receive the graces of the Holy Spirit.

As the administrative assistant for our Confirmation program, I’ve had the pleasure of reading the completed documents submitted by the students in preparation for their sacrament. In addition to their letter to Bishop Reed describing why they want to be Confirmed, I’ve also enjoyed reading about the saint whom they have selected.

Confirmation names are a special part of the sacramental process as the chosen patron saint will become bonded with the candidate spiritually and serve as a guide and protector throughout their life. Choosing one’s saint name is a personal decision. Many of our students chose a saint based on the name of a faith-filled relative, whereas others chose saints that reflected virtues or attributes that appealed to them.

Names have always been an important part of our Catholic faith. Throughout biblical history, a new name often signified drawing closer to God, as with Abram becoming Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Jacob becoming Israel (Genesis 35:10) and Simon becoming Peter (John 1:42). Priests and religious often take a new name upon entering religious life, such as Jorge Bergoglio becoming Pope Francis. When our students take a ‘new name’ during their Confirmation, they are taking on a ‘new life’ in their Christian journey of faith, knowing that their saint will help them make the right moral choices and will intercede for them before God. Praying to and having a connection with someone in Heaven is a big deal!

Certainly, the canonized saints are sterling examples of what a life of virtue and obedience to God looks like, but ultimately, we are all called to be saints.  The Feast of All Saints on November 1^st is a celebration of the uncanonized saints of heaven, which make up the bulk of the heavenly host. It would appear that my Confirmation name is among the heavenly host, as Joy is not a canonized saint. I felt called as a teenager to bring ‘joy to the world’ and my ‘new name’ of St. Joy, given in Confirmation, has always felt a part of my soul, helping me to radiate Christ’s love and joy.

As the Holy Spirit descends upon our students, I pray that they will eagerly embrace their saintly name as a part of a new Christian identity. And as for me, I shall work a bit harder in my faith journey in hopes I can eventually help get a Saint Joy (or perhaps a Saint Linda) on the recognized list of “official” canonized saints!