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'Confirmation is a sacrament of action'

| 20 Mar 2018 | 07:29
    Photos by Roger Gavan On Friday and Saturday, March 16-17, approximately 115 candidates received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr.
    Photos by Roger Gavan On Friday and Saturday, March 16-17, approximately 115 candidates received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr.
    During the service, Rev. Jack Arlotta, pastor of St. Stephen’s, presented the candidates, introducing each one by name.
    During the service, Rev. Jack Arlotta, pastor of St. Stephen’s, presented the candidates, introducing each one by name.
    Before administering the sacrament, Bishop Lagonegro told the candidates a story about a cousin who was on a holiday with his family at a beach in Thailand when a devastating tsunamis struck along the coasts of most land masses bordering the Indian Ocean. The message was this: "Confirmation is a sacrament of action."
    Before administering the sacrament, Bishop Lagonegro told the candidates a story about a cousin who was on a holiday with his family at a beach in Thailand when a devastating tsunamis struck along the coasts of most land masses bordering the Indian Ocean. The message was this: "Confirmation is a sacrament of action."
    Each candidate, accompanied by his or her sponsor, came forward to be anointed and confirmed one by one by the bishop.
    Each candidate, accompanied by his or her sponsor, came forward to be anointed and confirmed one by one by the bishop.

WARWICK — On Friday and Saturday, March 16- 17, approximately 115 candidates received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr.
As parents and other relatives looked on, Bishop Dominick Lagonegro, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and Episcopal Vicar for the Upper Counties, administered the sacrament to the young students who had completed a two-year course of study beginning in grade seven.
In the Catholic faith, Confirmation is a sacrament by which persons already baptized receive the Holy Spirit in order to make them stronger and more perfect Christians, as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
During the service, the Rev. Jack Arlotta, pastor of St. Stephen's, presented the candidates, introducing each one by name.
Act without fear or apathyBefore administering the sacrament, Lagonegro told the candidates a story about a cousin who was on a holiday with his family at a beach in Thailand.
The year was 2004 and his cousin suddenly realized that something very wrong was happening as an extraordinary wave approached the beach.
He grabbed his two children and yelled to his wife and everyone else in the area to run for their lives to high ground.
It was the result of an Indian Ocean earthquake, which triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most land masses bordering the Indian Ocean and killing more than 200,000 people.
"If he and his wife hadn't acted so quickly," said Lagonegro, "they would have been lost. They survived because they were people of action and Confirmation is a sacrament of action."
He explained there would be opportunities in life, such as when someone needs help, that they will have to put aside any apathy or fear to act with the gifts of wisdom, understanding and council they will receive.
'I do'During the rite of Confirmation, the entire group renewed their baptismal promises by responding: "I do."
Lagonegro and the concelebrating priests then performed the "Laying on of Hands," an ancient biblical gesture.
Finally, each candidate, accompanied by his or her sponsor, came forward to be anointed and confirmed one by one by the bishop.
Later, the bishop met with parents and candidates and posed for photographs.
- Roger Gavan