Spirit and Truth

One of the privileges of each bishop of the Catholic Church is to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with members of his local church.  Having a successor of the Apostles call down the same Holy Spirit that filled the Upper Room on Pentecost is a powerful experience.  The grace necessary to set the world on fire for Jesus Christ fills that moment.  Hearts are set ablaze and sent on mission to share the joy of being a disciple of the Lord of Life.  Like the saints whose names they've taken, the fully initiated Christian has a clear mission: go make disciples of all nations.

Descent of the Holy Spirit - Photo by Michele Gress

With such a serious mandate, preparation for Confirmation should be as thorough and robust as possible.  In an effort to aid that preparation, Archbishop Naumann has developed a booklet for teens.  The booklet is called "Fifty Truths Every Catholic Teen Should Know."  The world doesn't need clueless or uncatechized Christians.  By receiving this booklet to compliment their other preparation, every teen confirmed in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas should have no excuse for not knowing the central truths of the Faith.

Fifty Truths Every Catholic Teen Should Know

I know what it's like to be a clueless Christian.  When I was walking down the aisle of my home parish in high school toward the bishop, my father asked me what saint's name I had chosen.  Close enough to almost smell the Sacred Chrism, I responded, "What are you talking about?"  My dad told me I needed to choose a saint's name.  In a panic, I asked him who I should choose.  As we approached the bishop, I announced my hastily chosen patron.  The only problem is that my dad and I can't remember which saint we chose.  To this day, I don't know if I was confirmed as "Hubert" or "Herbert."  Clueless.  "Fifty Truths" might not have prepared me to choose a patron saint, but it would have been useful to have on my shelf as I started to appreciate the depth of the Catholic Faith later on in life.

This new booklet follows the classic question and answer style of many catechisms.  I appreciate the booklet for its clarity and citations.  Under each question and answer, four references are noted: Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Compendium to the Catechism, and the YouCat.  Additionally, sayings from various saints are printed throughout this concise resource.  Copies are available for order and it can also be downloaded for free.  Hopefully, these truths will be digested, accepted and proclaimed.