Sacraments of Initiation

“The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, ‘all power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:16–20).

Jesus established the Catholic Church to continue His salvific mission to the world. In our own time, just as at the beginning, the first step of every disciple is this encounter with Jesus who says to us, “I died to make you free, will you let me make you my disciple?” This invitation is a free gift of divine love and power. We are able to effectively respond to this invitation through the Sacraments of the Church that initiate us into Her life and prepares us to live out our ecclesial discipleship. The Sacraments that immediately prepare us for such a way of life are Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.

For the first generations of Christians, it was almost always adult converts along with their children who were baptized. The jailer said to Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.’ So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once” (Acts 16:30-33). These first Christians immediately received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, before finally joining the Mystical Body of Christ in completeness by receiving the Holy Eucharist. The graces received at Confirmation perfected what was given at Baptism and the Holy Eucharist gave them the strength to live out their Christian vocations as disciples of Jesus Christ.

But very soon, as children were born to these new disciples, it became customary to initiate them into the fullness of the faith through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. This practice continues in the Latin Rite of the Church today. Every year there are thousands of children who receive the ‘Sacraments of Initiation’.

While the whole Church is united in Her mission to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, the primary responsibility for passing on the faith to children belongs to parents (CCC 1656). Working with their parish communities, parents have the gravest obligation to provide their children with everything they need to encounter the Lord, fall in love with Him and participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church so that they will be well equipped to participate in the evangelical life of the Church as disciples of Christ.

And what do children need in order to receive these Sacraments? First and foremost, they – like everyone else – require God’s invitation. It is always God who initiates the relationship. It is God who creates and sustains them and it is God who calls them into deeper supernatural union with Him through His Church. God loves His children and desires a relationship with them.

Secondly, children benefit greatly from witnessing the faith intentionally lived out. There is perhaps no greater influence upon a child’s faith (aside from God’s grace) than parents who have an intimate relationship with Christ, who piously avail themselves to the sacramental graces of the Church, and who intentionally embrace the spirit of discipleship. The very way in which such parents joyously live out their Christian vocation will deeply impact their children and be an effective catalyst for them to follow in their parents footsteps.

And finally, children (along with their parents) will benefit from the support and communal life of the local parish and diocesan community and the formation opportunities offered to them. It is through the parish that the local Church of the diocese can organize a systematic program of formation that will assist in learning, loving, and living out the truths of the Catholic faith. Here the whole community can also work together to welcome and prepare catechumens for the Sacraments of Initiation. What follows will serve as the basic framework of the formation programs for these sacraments of initiation in our parishes in the diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma.  

From all that has been said, we can see that some particular shared expectations and thresholds will serve the needs of those seeking the Sacraments of Initiation while at the same time facilitating families, parishes and the diocese in the liturgical, pastoral and canonical administration of these programs.

Beginning in 2024, the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma has entered a five-year transition period to align the sacramental formation programs throughout the diocese. At the same time, we will be uniformly restoring the ordering of the Sacraments of Initiation. Everyone in the Diocese will receive the Sacraments of Initiation in the following restored order: Baptism, Confirmation, and then Holy Eucharist. Finally, children will receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist at the same time and at the earliest possible age, usually in the third grade. The sacramental graces will be a great help to the children and the formation opportunities will benefit the whole family (for a fuller rationale of these changes see Bishop’s Pastoral Letter, Jesus is Lord).

To facilitate these changes, every parish preparation program will assist parents in preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation. Programs are to make note that Baptism is to occur at the earliest possible age, First Confession is to be received in the second grade, and Confirmation and First Holy Eucharist in the third grade.

In the case of the Baptism of infants, the focus here is on the preparation of the parents and godparents. They will be the ones to request the Sacrament on behalf of the infant and in turn they will be responsible for ensuring that the Catholic faith is faithfully taught. The parish will assist parents and godparents in understanding the nature of the sacrament of Baptism and the responsibilities that flow from it and to assess their readiness to fulfill these responsibilities.

In the case of adults or minors above the age of reason parishes will provide age appropriate Catechumenate programs (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults [OCIA] and/or Order of Christian Initiation of Children [OCIC]). These programs are specifically designed to aid people who have not been baptized or who were baptized in a Christian denomination but who now seek full communion with the Catholic Church. Here a whole OCIA or OCIC team will be available to accompany the inquirers through a discernment process leading to a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and final reception into the fullness of Catholic faith through the Sacraments of Initiation.            

Of course, life is full of variety and there can be many particular situations that require pastoral flexibility in order to meet the needs of families and individuals. The parishes will always be ready to assist in special circumstances. Working together, individuals, families and parishes we will grow in love, “praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).