One idea that I haven't heard yet is the *real* roots of the Western practice: have the priest baptize the infants and have the diocesan bishop make the confirming/first Holy Communicating circuit to confirm all of the infants-through-toddlers who have been baptized since his last visit.
The western (and originally universal) practice of …
One idea that I haven't heard yet is the *real* roots of the Western practice: have the priest baptize the infants and have the diocesan bishop make the confirming/first Holy Communicating circuit to confirm all of the infants-through-toddlers who have been baptized since his last visit.
The western (and originally universal) practice of reserving confirmation in ordinary circumstances to the bishop preserves an incredibly important element of our ecclesiology: our membership in the Body of Christ is only fully realized in relationship to the college of bishops/ our very own successor of the apostles. Initiation into the Christian mysteries isn't a me-and-Jesus thing. It isn't even a parish thing. It fundamentally includes the whole church, most fully expressed by the local church in all its orders gathered around the diocesan bishop. If you ask me, that's really the only appropriate place to complete Christian initiation.
Other sacramental hot takes & related bomb-throwing:
* Wherever feasible, the OCIA triple play should only occur at the Easter Vigil celebrated in the cathedral with the diocesan bishop presiding. Maybe at the Pentecost Vigil.
* The age of reason should be raised to 10 years old. While children under this age can properly understand the Eucharist, most don't in my experience.
* Adults being confirmed after the normal age should be confirmed by the bishop with the kiddos. There's no theological difference between being confirmed at age 14 and age 40. I don't see why we should treat them differently.
In addition to a “like” button, we need a “makes total sense” button!
Fr. Jeff, you are so right about the reason for the delay in Confirmation: reserving it to the Bishop makes sense; waiting till age 14 doesn’t.
The idea of raising the age of reason does give me a lot of pause. My parish is building our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, immersing the youngest children in liturgy and scripture. There is such a divine simplicity to the deepest truths of the faith, I think we really can help them to grasp their essence early on.
Of course, the age of reason is also linked to first confession. I’d be interested in hearing your experience with children’s grasp of the reflection necessary for that!
That's a good point. While I think we've all met kids who are precocious and understand the Eucharist very well, in the normal course of human development most kids don't develop abstract thinking skills until age 11 or 12. That matches my own experience. When working with first Holy Communion classes, there are always at least a couple kids that want to know how Jesus can fit in such a small box. That's a good indicator that they don't quite grasp the Eucharistic presence.
I'm not saying that kids younger than 10 *can't* demonstrate a sufficient faith in the Blessed Sacrament to receive it; I'm just saying that we shouldn't *assume* they're able to do so until they're 10 years old. (In fact, I actually encouraged a woman talk to her pastor about having her child receive Holy Communion before the normal time last year.)
I had that thought after reading the initial article. I see no reason why Confirmation couldn’t be given to babies/toddlers as the Confirmation circuit goes around. This could be implemented in phases logistically even so there isn’t a year when a thousand kids are confirmed. If previously 8th graders were confirmed then say the next year it’ll be 6-8th graders (and younger by pastors approval?). Then work your way down until it’s babies.
One idea that I haven't heard yet is the *real* roots of the Western practice: have the priest baptize the infants and have the diocesan bishop make the confirming/first Holy Communicating circuit to confirm all of the infants-through-toddlers who have been baptized since his last visit.
The western (and originally universal) practice of reserving confirmation in ordinary circumstances to the bishop preserves an incredibly important element of our ecclesiology: our membership in the Body of Christ is only fully realized in relationship to the college of bishops/ our very own successor of the apostles. Initiation into the Christian mysteries isn't a me-and-Jesus thing. It isn't even a parish thing. It fundamentally includes the whole church, most fully expressed by the local church in all its orders gathered around the diocesan bishop. If you ask me, that's really the only appropriate place to complete Christian initiation.
Other sacramental hot takes & related bomb-throwing:
* Wherever feasible, the OCIA triple play should only occur at the Easter Vigil celebrated in the cathedral with the diocesan bishop presiding. Maybe at the Pentecost Vigil.
* The age of reason should be raised to 10 years old. While children under this age can properly understand the Eucharist, most don't in my experience.
* Adults being confirmed after the normal age should be confirmed by the bishop with the kiddos. There's no theological difference between being confirmed at age 14 and age 40. I don't see why we should treat them differently.
In addition to a “like” button, we need a “makes total sense” button!
Fr. Jeff, you are so right about the reason for the delay in Confirmation: reserving it to the Bishop makes sense; waiting till age 14 doesn’t.
The idea of raising the age of reason does give me a lot of pause. My parish is building our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, immersing the youngest children in liturgy and scripture. There is such a divine simplicity to the deepest truths of the faith, I think we really can help them to grasp their essence early on.
Of course, the age of reason is also linked to first confession. I’d be interested in hearing your experience with children’s grasp of the reflection necessary for that!
That's a good point. While I think we've all met kids who are precocious and understand the Eucharist very well, in the normal course of human development most kids don't develop abstract thinking skills until age 11 or 12. That matches my own experience. When working with first Holy Communion classes, there are always at least a couple kids that want to know how Jesus can fit in such a small box. That's a good indicator that they don't quite grasp the Eucharistic presence.
I'm not saying that kids younger than 10 *can't* demonstrate a sufficient faith in the Blessed Sacrament to receive it; I'm just saying that we shouldn't *assume* they're able to do so until they're 10 years old. (In fact, I actually encouraged a woman talk to her pastor about having her child receive Holy Communion before the normal time last year.)
I had that thought after reading the initial article. I see no reason why Confirmation couldn’t be given to babies/toddlers as the Confirmation circuit goes around. This could be implemented in phases logistically even so there isn’t a year when a thousand kids are confirmed. If previously 8th graders were confirmed then say the next year it’ll be 6-8th graders (and younger by pastors approval?). Then work your way down until it’s babies.