Confirmation is one of the sacraments of Christian initiation, along with Baptism and the Eucharist, that mark the beginning of a person’s life in Christ. These sacraments transform an individual into a Christian. While they have distinct symbols, they share similar functions. The table below illustrates the different ways each sacrament accomplishes a specific action.
| Each sacrament’s actions regarding… | Baptism | Confirmation | The Eucharist |
| Christ | Made a member of Christ | Incorporated more firmly into Christ | [1] Increases the Church’s union with Christ [2] Identifies the Church with Christ’s Heart [3] Christ pledges eternal life to the Church |
| The Church | Incorporated into the Church | Strengthens bond with the Church and associates more closely with her mission | [1] Reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ [2] Unites the pilgrim Church to the Church in heaven |
| God | Given the Spirit of adoption | Rooted more deeply in the divine filiation | |
| Holy Spirit | Made a temple of the Holy Spirit | Gives the gifts of the Spirit | The Spirit sustains the Church’s strength along the pilgrimage of this life |
| Priesthood | Made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ | Inaugurates the twin missions of the priestly office: prophetic and kingly | |
| Sin | Original and personal sins forgiven | Forgives our venial sins and preserves from grave sins |
1. In the sacraments of Christian initiation we are freed from the power of darkness and joined to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We receive the Spirit of filial adoption and are part of the entire people of God in the celebration of the memorial of the Lord’s death and resurrection.
2. Baptism incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God’s people. This first sacrament pardons all our sins, rescues us from the power of darkness, and brings us to the dignity of adopted children, a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit. Hence we are called and are indeed the children of God.
[What is Confirmation in the Catholic Church?] By signing us with the gift of the Spirit, confirmation makes us more completely the image of the Lord and fills us with the Holy Spirit, so that we may bear witness to him before all the world and work to bring the Body of Christ to its fullness as soon as possible.
Finally, coming to the table of the eucharist, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man so that we may have eternal life and show forth the unity of God’s people. By offering ourselves with Christ, we share in the universal sacrifice, that is, the entire community of the redeemed offered to God by their High Priest, and we pray for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that the whole human race may be brought into the unity of God’s family.
Thus the three sacraments of Christian initiation closely combine to bring us, the faithful of Christ, to his full stature and to enable us to carry out the mission of the entire people of God in the Church and in the world.
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, General Introduction
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