By Joel Padgett
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1127-1134
When I used to help prepare candidates for Confirmation, one of my favorite activities involved gathering together both those who were preparing to be confirmed and those who had already been confirmed (essentially the upperclassmen and the young adult leaders). I would typically ask those who had already been confirmed a few questions to which I wanted the candidates to hear their responses: What is one thing that you wish you knew, or were more aware of, before Confirmation? What do you most remember about your Confirmation? What difference has Confirmation made in your life?
Most of them (and keep in mind that these are the youth who continued on in youth ministry after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, as well as those young adults assisting with youth ministry) did not “feel” a lot in the moment of receiving the sacrament, and the majority of them would inevitably wish that they had better prepared for it. However, pretty much all of them said it made a real difference. Although they couldn’t necessarily pinpoint it, they noticed a growing effect of Confirmation in their lives: an increased hunger to know more about their faith and a yearning to live their faith out more authentically.
This illustrates one of the most dearly held beliefs that Catholics have in regard to the sacraments. We believe that they work by the very fact that they are performed (in Latin, ex opere operato). Furthermore, they work independently of the holiness — or lack thereof — of the minister who is celebrating them. In other words, “from the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister” (CCC 1128). There is so much freedom and peace in this (obviously assuming that the sacraments are celebrated in accord with the Church). Think about it. Regardless of the minister, when you are baptized or confirmed, you are truly baptized; you are truly confirmed. Regardless of the minister, whenever you receive the Eucharist, you are receiving Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity. Regardless of the minister, your sins are truly forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You are freed from what would be the horrendous burden of having to judge a minister’s holiness in order to determine if a sacrament was valid, if it “actually counted!”
Now, all this may beg the question, “If the sacraments always work, then why don’t I see more of their fruits?” The answer lies in a typically Catholic “both-and” response: “The fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them” (CCC 1128). This aspect is the “work” of the person who is receiving the sacrament (in Latin, ex opere operantis). In other words, Baptism and Confirmation truly leave indelible marks, Christ is truly received in the Eucharist, etc. But the sacraments are not magic, and God always respects your free will! If we decide not to cooperate with God’s grace, he is not going to “override” our decision. The graces proper to each sacrament are like seeds that are truly planted in your life, but, in a sense, they lie “dormant” until you actively consent to them. As you intentionally correspond to them, they grow and bear ever-increasing fruit. Both things matter: actually receiving the sacrament and one’s disposition in receiving it.
In the moment you receive a sacrament, you may or may not “feel” anything at all. The presence or absence of a felt experience doesn’t actually change what is happening. As a general rule, feelings are never a good measuring stick when it comes to God’s grace or the quality of our prayer. Perhaps a better measure would be Jesus’ own words: “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Which ones? The Catholic Church lists twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity” (CCC 1832). Similar to the youth who told me that they didn’t notice much in the actual moment of receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, but they noticed an effect thereafter, these are the fruits that we should see growing when we take a look in the rearview mirror of our spiritual lives.