When our RCIA candidates were confirmed they were marked with the oil of the Chrism. This oil was blessed by the Bishop and brought to our Parish especially for this use. Why do we anoint with oil at Confirmation?

Here is a message from St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who wrote for Catachumens in 300 AD.

The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil; it was in fact the Holy Spirit himself, who is called the oil of gladness because he is the source of spiritual joy. But you also have been anointed with oil, and by this anointing you have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in his life. Beware of thinking of this chrism as merely ordinary oil. As the Eucharistic bread after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is no longer ordinary bread but the body of Christ, so also the oil after the invocation is no longer plain ordinary oil but Christ's gift which by the presence of his divinity becomes the instrument through which you receive the Holy Spirit. While symbolically, on your foreheads and organs of sense, your bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, your souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.

All of us are anointed by this "life-giving Spirit". Our job is to accept and live with this gift as fully as we can. Please continue to keep our newly-adopted Sisters and Brothers in your prayers. Watch for them and encourage them when you meet them.

For more information please contact: Dennis Sexton, RCIA, at 650-279-1025 or dwsexton@gmail.com