E-mail Opening the Gift - Confirmation

Opening up the Gift

The promises made to us in our baptisms are at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.  When we were baptized, we experienced the grace of God even if we didn’t realize it.  That happens a lot with God’s grace.  Baptism is a gift with no strings attached.  There is nothing else we have to do - no choice we have to make - to make our baptism “work”.  It is already done.  

So why do we have this thing called confirmation?  Why do we choose to “affirm” our baptism if God’s promise and God’s Spirit have already been given to us?  The short answer is ...Christmas morning.  

In many ways, gift giving starts way before Christmas morning.  The gifts were already given when they were purchased or made just for you.  On Christmas morning you “unwrap” them and you start to discover the love that went into each gift.  Some gifts only last a few hours.  Others keep transmitting the love of the giver for many years.

 In a certain kind of way, the confirmation program at St. Mark is about “opening the gift”.  God’s gift of grace and forgiveness given to us in baptism is so awesome that we spend our whole life“opening” it up.  The time we spend in confirmation is only the beginning of exploring what it means to to live as free and forgiven children of God.  

 Click here to view year ONE Schedule                                   Click here to view year TWO Schedule