Many Catholic parents go to great lengths to ensure their children are baptized, and they must make similar efforts to see that their children are confirmed, Pope
Francis said. Without confirmation, he said, young people will remain "halfway" on the path of Christian maturity and membership in the church. Confirmation "unites us more solidly to Christ. It completes our bond with the church," Pope Francis said Jan. 29 at his weekly general audience. The sacrament "gives us the special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith, to confess the name of Christ and to never be ashamed of his cross," the pope said. Confirmation solidifies and increases the grace given at baptism, "which is why it's important to make sure our children and young people receive this sacrament. We all make sure that our children are baptized, which is good, but perhaps we're not quite so diligent in making sure they are confirmed."
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...