Confirmation is the opportunity to profess for ourselves the faith in which we were baptized, and to receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It involves receiving the laying-on of hands and being anointed with oil by the bishop, and it usually takes place within a large celebration of the Eucharist. It is an act of Christian commitment and therefore deserves thorough preparation. To be confirmed is not to undertake a social rite of passage; it is to promise publicly to surrender your life to Christ.