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Traditional Catholic Faith => The Library => Topic started by: johncarberry on November 19, 2025, 02:07:59 PM
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Shadows of Confirmation, by John Carberry
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18-19, Is 61:1-2). Luke introduces Jesus to us at the beginning of his ministry with a visit to his hometown of Nazareth. Jesus walks into the ѕуηαgσgυє on a sabbath and unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He reads this passage and then tells the people that today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing (Lk 4:18-21). The Spirit of the Lord was indeed on this shoot from the stump of Jesse, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. His delight shall be the fear of the Lord (Is 11:1-2, Rom 15:12).1 Christ was marked with the seal from the Father (Jn 6:27).2
Confirmation is commonly associated with Pentecost, or 50 days after Easter. For Christians, Pentecost celebrates when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles, who were inspired and rejuvenated (Acts 2:1-4). Pentecost was also a feast in the Old Testament. It comes from a Greek term pentekoste which means fifty days (Lv 23:16, Nm 28:26-31). It occurred fifty days after Passover. It was sometimes called the Feast of Weeks because a week of weeks, seven times seven, plus one day equals 50 days (Dt 16:9). It was both a celebration of the grain harvest (Lv 23:22, Ex 23:16, 34:22) and a celebration of the Law being given to Moses. The Jews call Pentecost the birthday of the Torah or the season of the giving of the law since rabbis believed that the Torah was given on Pentecost.3
The Pentecost of the New Testament fulfills this ancient feast. The apostles are now mature like the grain and they are able to bear fruit for Christ. They can now comprehend and understand the Gospel and preach it to others. The Spirit recalls for the Church everything that Jesus said.4 The apostles are now able to know (knowledge) and understand (understanding) the Gospel, as well as explain it to others (counsel). Challenged to make the proper choices (wisdom), they will undergo persecution and imprisonment (strength or fortitude). Through living in Christian charity (piety) and staying firm in their faith (fear of the Lord), the apostles can bring the New Law of the Gospel to others (Is 11:1-2).5 This New Law, written not on tablets of stone, but on our hearts (2 Cor 3:3, Ps 37:31, Mk 7:15, Ex 24:12, 32:15-16, 34:1, Dt 9:8-17, 10:1-2, Ez 36:26), fulfills the Old Law (Mt 5:17-20).6
The Holy Spirit is present and foretold in the Old Testament. God took some of the spirit that was upon Moses and gave it to the seventy elders in the desert (Nm 11:17, 25). The spirit of the Lord rushed upon David at his anointing (1 Sm 16:13). The spirit of the Lord also rushed on many others (Is 44:3), especially priests, prophets and kings. God promised that he would give a new heart and put a new spirit within them, while removing the stony heart from their bodies and replacing them with a natural heart (Ez 11:19, 18:31, Jer 31:33, Heb 10:16). This new spirit allows the Israelites to live according to God’s statutes and carry out what he asks (Ez 11:20). God promised to pour out his spirit on all of humankind so that they might prophesy or speak on behalf of him (Jl 2:28, 3:1).
John Carberry is the author of Parables: Catholic Apologetics Through Sacred Scripture (2003) and Sacraments: Signs, Symbols and Significance (2023).
1 CCC, 1286.
2 CCC, 1296.
3 Kohler, Kaufmann, J. L. Magnus, and Judah David Eisenstein, Jєωιѕн Encyclopedia, accessed 3/5/2020. http://www.Jєωιѕнencyclopedia.com/articles/12012-pentecost.
4 CCC, 2623.
5 Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, II, I, Q103, A3, Reply Obj. 4.
6 CCC, 715.