True faith waits: in whose interest is it to confirm 7-year-olds? Saving the sacrament for an age when young people can better understand the meaning behind it makes more sense, no matter how things used to be.

CONFIRMATION HAS BEEN SAID TO BE A SACRAMENT in search of a theology. But Confirmation is really a sacrament with a lot of theology; it's almost too complex to quickly explain. Father Robert Tuzik of Chicago has written that "Confirmation is the completion of Baptism ... the gift of the Holy Spirit ... the fulfillment of the promise to send the Paraclete ... gives spiritual power ... and is a sacrament of spiritual maturity."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "Confirmation perfects baptismal grace; it is the sacrament that gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, it incorporates us more firmly into Christ, it strengthens our bond with the church, it associates us more closely with her mission, and it helps us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds."

Spiritual maturity? Bearing witness in words and deeds? These are not the first things that come to mind when you see a group of second graders receiving Confirmation, as has been happening in many dioceses. Despite this trend, after seeing three nieces and nephews receive Confirmation in second grade, four in eighth grade, and three in high school, I firmly believe that Confirmation has more of an impact on youth in their teen years.

A brief look at the history of Confirmation explains why the theology is so broad and has changed. As a sacrament of initiation, Confirmation is connected with Baptism and Eucharist. In fact, it did not become separate from Baptism until it became too difficult to have a bishop present at every Baptism, so children were baptized by the parish priest and then had their Baptism "confirmed" when the bishop was in town. Today in Eastern Catholic churches Confirmation (known as "chrismation") is still celebrated immediately after Baptism. In the Latin Rite we emphasize Confirmation as uniting us with the church as embodied in the bishop, so we've kept his role more prominent.

ALL OF THIS WEIGHS INTO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE APPROPRIATE age for Confirmation. In 2000 the U.S. bishops stated that the age of Confirmation can be anytime between 7 and 16. Today many dioceses are moving Confirmation before First Communion. A 2005 survey by the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota found that since 1990, 32 dioceses have implemented pilot programs to "restore" Confirmation to its traditional place prior to first Eucharist. Another 25 dioceses have discussed the option. Of the 32 dioceses, nine have full participation of every parish, 14 have participation from one or more parishes, and nine have either reduced the number of their pilot programs or have stopped the practice. Participating dioceses are concerned with the correct liturgical understanding of the sacrament and want to return it to the original order of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.

But for those who are more concerned with the learning and growth that happens before and because of the sacrament, it makes more sense to postpone Confirmation for a while. Their focus is less on the temporal order of the sacraments than with the theology of the sacrament and the gift it can be both to the Confirmation candidate and the parish as a whole.

My brother Doug--father of the niece and nephews who were confirmed in second grade--says, "Confirmation was hard for my second graders to understand. Eucharist is something they can touch and feel--they can grasp that. Plus they receive Eucharist regularly, so their understanding of it continues to develop, whereas we never really revisit Confirmation and what it means for them."

The older my nieces and nephews were, the better they were able to understand Confirmation. In some ways their hearts were more open to receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit--wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence, and wonder and awe--once they were old enough to reflect on what that meant for their lives. Receiving Confirmation later also allows the parish community to see young adults who are continuing their education of faith, and that example can inspire us to revisit our own faith journey.

It takes a reflective and self-assured young person to really comprehend the depth of the gifts of the Spirit and to know how to use them to be a witness to Christ. With this in mind, I can't help but see that the older we are, the better able we are to fully understand Confirmation. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Age of body does not determine age of soul. Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity." But spiritual maturity for most people comes later than age 7.

Author Frederick Buechner says, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Part of Confirmation preparation is helping the candidate to see his or her vocation as a disciple of Christ and to understand how living anointed in the Spirit provides strength for that vocation. We also need some understanding of our own self and our "deep gladness"--an insight that comes only with experience and maturity--to discover how we can best respond to the "world's deep hunger."

OTHER REASONS ARE GIVEN FOR CONFIRMING YOUNGER Catholics. Some parishes cite confusion when RCIA candidates receive all the sacraments of initiation at the same time but those who are baptized as infants wait several years. Others are concerned that fewer people will be confirmed because they are less involved in their faith as they get older. Their attitude seems to say, "Let's get them confirmed while we can." Still others fear that Confirmation at a later age signals a kind of graduation from religious education and that we will never see these young people in the church again.

These explanations have more to do with issues about the education being offered--not only in preparation for Confirmation, but at all levels, from youth to adult. "Losing people" between First Communion and adolescence is less about the right age for Confirmation and more about what we are doing to ensure our parish communities are calling members to reflect Christ in our world.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas moved Confirmation to second grade in 1990 but then returned it to 10th grade eight years later. A survey commissioned by Bishop Roberto Gonzalez in 1998 indicated that "students are not returning for ongoing formation after they have received the sacrament, regardless of the age of Confirmation."

THE TYPE OF PREPARATION AND INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO A Confirmation candidate at any age is critical. Even those who are confirmed in high school might not grasp all of the theology behind the sacrament, especially when their time is stretched between additional involvement in sports and school. But as the Corpus Christi survey states, "Students in grades 9 through 11 are more mature, and they would understand the sacrament better; they can be involved in more extensive service projects and parish ministry; and they will have a more mature foundation in their faith."

It seems we lose the impact of Confirmation altogether when we lump it in with Eucharist in second grade. But if our catechetical programs engage young adults in mature conversations about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how God is calling them to witness in their faith and deeds, then we are laying a strong foundation for the continued journey of their faith.

Youth in high school who receive quality religious education are more likely to understand the theology at work in Confirmation, more likely to see their own role in accepting the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and more likely to understand Confirmation as deepening their baptismal call to be a witness to Christ in our world. Regardless of the original order of things, that's worth the wait.

Advance copies of Sounding Board are mailed to a sample of U.S. CATHOLIC subscribers. Their answers to questions on the topic of this article and a representative selection of their comments follow in Feedback.

CHRISTINA ZAKER, a freelance writer in Chicago.