In the Old testament, the People of God expected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah. Jesus lived his life in a special Spirit of love and of perfect unity with his Father in heaven.
This Spirit of Jesus was the "Holy Spirit" for whom the people of Israel longed;
- this was the same Spirit whom Jesus promised to his disciples,
- the same Spirit who descended upon the disciples fifty days after Easter, on the feast of Pentecost. - and it is again this same Holy Spirit of Jesus who descends upon everyone who receives the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In the Acts of Apostles, which were written a few decades after the death of Jesus, we see Peter and John traveling about to confirm new Christians by imposing hands on those who previously "had only been baptized in the name of Lord Jesus", so that their hearts might be filled with the Holy Spirit.
"From that time on the apostles, in the fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the church" (Pope Paul VI).
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