*AMDG
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The Descent of the
Holy Spirit upon the apostles, disciples,
and Mary……160 in all received the first Confirmation.
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It's
Confirmation season and we're only a few weeks away from the great feast of
Pentecost. Our students at
St. Louis Church, Gallipolis, Ohio were confirmed today by Bishop Jeffrey
Montforton. So permit me to share the contents of the
class that I gave to the Confirmation students.
It might give a few ideas to Confirmation class teachers and might also serve as a refresher and review for all of us. There’s so much to learn about the faith; it’s
a life long process. If we don’t continually
learn through Bible Study, spiritual reading, often referring to the treasury
of Church teaching, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, etc., deepen our
faith, and mature in it through daily prayer, Sunday Mass without fail and the
sacraments, we risk becoming lax and eventually losing the faith. Almost every extended family has a fallen
away Catholic or two.
AND ITS MEANING
What a privilege it is for us to be with you to help you grow and to grow ourselves! Let’s pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you, Lord for this opportunity! Please help us to give our students the best preparation possible for the great sacrament of Confirmation. Dear Holy Spirit, always tell us what to do, what to say, and what to write. Never let us do anything against your will.
Before starting,
let me ask: Did you see the two articles
that I wrote in the Church Bulletin……. "We are IN the Super Bowl" (Blog #151 at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com)
and the one that came out last Sunday, “Blessed José Sanchez……Boy Martyr and
Real Soldier of Christ” (Blog #132)?
Only 14 years old, he was a flag bearer in the fight of the Cristeros
for religious freedom against the intense persecution of the Mexican Government
in the 1920s. José was captured and they
told him: “Deny Christ and we’ll let you
go free”. He answered: “Viva Cristo Rey”. José died a martyr because he refused to deny
Christ. How would you fare in a similar
situation? Can something like that
happen here? We already have a subtle
persecution. Catholic organizations are
being forced to provide health insurance that includes abortifacients. I’d like to ask you to read the articles
because my primary motivation in writing them was for you. It’s all about Confirmation.
When
did the first Confirmation occur? It
was the first Pentecost when the apostles and Mary received the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Now let’s backtrack to the
Ascension. Imagine that you were at the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven and
that you are with the apostles waiting for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then during the Confirmation Mass, imagine
that you are one of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit on that first
Pentecost. After all, we are apostles of
the Lord. An apostle is one who is sent
and you are sent.
What
did Christ tell the apostles before He ascended into heaven on Ascension
Thursday? To stay in Jerusalem
and wait for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4). In Acts 1:8 Christ says: “You will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses……to the
ends of the earth”.
According to
Matthew (25:19) He also said: “Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit……” Did our Lord say all that only to the first apostles? He said that to us too! He gave each one of us a special mission to
be His witnesses in everything we do, in whatever career we follow, wherever we
are. We are to teach our children
ESPECIALLY, our students, our friends, our coworkers on the job, etc. We have the mission of furthering the Lord’s
kingdom. Remember in the Our Father…….”Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done”. We are
called to establish a civilization of love as St. John Paul II asked us to
do. Each one of us by virtue of Baptism
are apostles and missionaries (see my blog #5). Of
course as a lay missionary abroad or a priest or nun you would be more deeply
involved.
How do we evangelize non-Catholics and
fallen away Catholics? In little
ways or in big ways at home or abroad…….by prayer and example, by word and
deed. We can encourage fallen away
Catholics to come back home. At the same
time, we are engaged in a tremendous battle between the forces of good and the
forces of evil. Whose side are you
on? As a soldier of Christ, can you
engage in that battle by yourself? You’re
going to need all the help you can get.
That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in?
You will receive tremendous graces and gifts in Confirmation. For the rest of your lives you must develop
and nurture the gifts of the Holy Spirit which you will have to tap when the
critical moments come and cooperate with the graces.
Preparation
What were the apostles doing during their time of waiting for the Holy Spirit? They were cooped up together, hiding out in
probably the upper room…..praying and preparing for the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit…..day and night. In addition,
Christ Himself gave them an intense preparation for how long? Three years.
He taught the apostles all the time…..while walking, eating, resting,
etc. Was that enough? They were scared and timid. Since late evening Holy Thursday, they were
hiding out and laying low in fear of the Jews.
They needed something more. That
was the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to set them on fire with zeal and
fearlessness to spread the good news about our Lord. They needed the gifts and charisms of the
Holy Spirit.
If the apostles needed all that knowledge, preparation, and prayer…..how about
us? Without a good preparation, the Sacrament
of Confirmation will not be meaningful to you.
It won’t be effective? You won’t
get much out of it. If you don’t receive
the sacrament of Confirmation with faith, it won’t be effective either.
How should we prepare for this great
sacrament to get the most out of it and obtain the maximum amount of grace? Confirmation is not a coming out party like a
debutante announcing to the world she is of age and eligible for a handsome
guy. This is not like the Jewish Bar
Mitzvah ceremony and party for coming of age and a milestone in their education
in the Jewish faith. If that’s all
Confirmation is to you…..a sort of graduation from CCD, a party and gifts, and you
don’t have to learn any more about our faith, YOU’RE IN BIG TROUBLE. Knowing very little about the faith, it won’t
make much sense and you’ll fall away.
You might marry a Protestant and join your spouse’s church because all
religions will appear to be the same.
One of our former Confirmation students did just that.
If you look at Confirmation as a
graduation from CCD and not much more, I can almost predict that as a soldier
of Christ, you’ll end up as a deserter.
You’ll fall by the wayside especially if your parents are lax in the faith. If they are faithful, then you’ll fall away
as soon as you are on your own in college or move out of the house. It starts with missing mass occasionally and
then it becomes a slippery slope. Then
you use any stupid excuse for not coming to Mass on Sunday…..”I have too much
homework; I have a big exam on Monday; my team plays over the weekend; I have a
hangover from the party on Saturday night; I’m tired; I had a tough week and I have to catch up on
my sleep; etc., etc., etc. Then you
won’t particularly care whether a sin is mortal or not…..according to the
Catechism, it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday for no good reason; also
having sex with your boy friend or girl friend, engaging in porn as the movie
“Shades of Grey”, etc. Finally, you will
fall away completely and your immortal soul will be in grave danger.
Already I
suspect that we’ve lost a few people from our previous Confirmation class. It breaks our hearts because the members of
this Confirmation team put their hearts and souls into this program. We love you all very much. Are you going to be faithful? Remember! Confirmation is NOT the end; it’s
the beginning of the adventure with Christ in your adult life.
True,
we do have the faith that even if you do drift, the graces of Confirmation will
be there for the rest of your lives. You
would need extraordinary graces to come back.
Holiness. At this point you only have a
taste of the beauty, the depth, the richness, and the splendor of the Catholic
faith. Confirmation is just the beginning
of your maturing in the Faith. There’s
so much more to learn. There’s so much
more growing to do. Each one of us has
to work on holiness throughout our lives.
In fact, you can’t enter Heaven and appear before the throne of God
without being holy. So you have a
choice: become holy here on earth or become
holy in Purgatory and that’s much more difficult.
We
are preparing for the great sacrament of Confirmation. We’ve been coming to class every Sunday for
almost two years. We’ve learned a lot,
but is that enough? Absolutely NOT! It barely scratched the surface. It’s only something to build on. So let’s be specific. How do we prepare for this great sacrament?
· Mass
every Sunday without fail. That’s a
bare minimum. The Eucharist is like
Power Ade. We need that constant
nutrition. Furthermore, we have readings
from the Bible. Attending Mass every
Sunday, we cover the highlights of the entire Bible. Fr. Tom gives good in depth homilies. We sing.
The sacrifice of Calvary is brought to us.
· Learn
about the Faith as you are now in this Confirmation class. In addition Read – the Bible……a
little each day. You can read the daily
Mass readings which are taken directly from the Bible. You can get the readings on www.ewtn.com and the booklets in the back of the
church. You can read books by great
spiritual authors. There’s the Catholic
newspapers in the back of the church. At
least read our parish bulletin every week.
Ms. Dovyak has tried to get you in the habit. We can’t evangelize or defend the faith if we
don’t know it ourselves.
· Prayer
– What’s the first thing you should do upon jumping out of bed in the
morning? Pray a morning offering: “Lord, I offer this day to you. Help me make this day pleasing to you”; talk
to the Lord during the day. Monthly
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament is a tremendous opportunity to get
closer to God. At least stay for a
little while. An hour is generally
recommended. Offering your daily
crosses, setbacks, defeats, and sufferings is a very powerful prayer for peace,
for sinners, for the Church, the missions, and a better world.
· Confession
during Advent and Lent is a bare minimum.
The Church requires once a year.
Mother Angelica, a feisty nun on EWTN, asked the question: “Do you take a bath once a year?” We need frequent confession for examining how
we are doing and obtain the graces to conquer our faults and sins. Spiritual directors recommend once a
month. I cannot emphasize enough the
importance of going to Confession before receiving the sacrament of
Confirmation. You’ll take a good shower
before the prom, right? You want your
soul to be spic and span for the sacrament.
You must be in the state of grace to receive the sacrament of
Confirmation and should profess and know well the truths and duties of our
faith. People tell all to a shrink, but
are afraid to confess to a priest who is under the very strict Seal of
Confession…….so strict that he must die first or face excommunication.
· Charity.
Helping others. Being patient and kind
with people. Also consoling,
encouraging, and counseling.
May this
Confirmation class develop virtues and habits that will stay with us for the
rest of our lives. We have to continue
this spiritual growth in this quest for holiness until the day we die. We are called to holiness. We are called to be saints.
The Rite of Confirmation and Its Meaning
First of all, what is a sacrament? It is
an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.
What is Baptism? Baptism
is the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by
which we become children of God and heirs of heaven. It cleans
our souls of original sin and other sin. It gives
us sanctifying grace which is divine life in the soul. We
are born again of water and the Holy Spirit. It is our initiation
as members of the Church. We
are anointed with chrism as a member of Christ who is Priest, Prophet and King.
What is Confirmation? Confirmation
is the sacrament through which the Holy Spirit comes to us in a special way and
enables us to profess our faith as strong Christians and soldiers of Jesus
Christ. Confirmation makes Baptism
more complete. It’s a deepening of Baptism in which we receive the life of the Holy
Spirit in a deeper way. It gives
us the graces to mature in the faith
in our adult lives and the strength to be faithful to the Church and its teachings and to defend
it. We receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit which we
must develop and draw from when needed. We must cooperate with these gifts and graces
and the Holy Spirit will guide us
in our lives.
Confirmation not
only helps us to keep the faith,
but to spread it as witnesses of Christ who
reflect His goodness and love, His light of truth, and His life of sanctifying
grace. In Confirmation the Holy Spirit gives us a certain power and helps us to be good soldiers of Christ in carrying out our missions in the
battle between good and evil. The Holy
Spirit fills our hearts with the love
of God. We become more firmly established as members of the
Church which is the Body of Christ. By Confirmation we share more completely in
the mission of Christ. We are called
to be Christ’s instruments under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to give our
lives in the service of God and His people.
Confirmation increases sanctifying grace,
gives special sacramental grace
to help us utilize the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and imprints a lasting mark on your soul to identify you
as a soldier in the army of Christ.
The sacramental grace of Confirmation helps us to be loyal to our faith and to profess it courageously. We are strengthened
against temptation and the dangers to salvation. We are confirmed
in our faith with the Holy Spirit.
Confirmation is really the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit. That term is often used
in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. The
Prayer Group prays over a person to receive the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. That is simply a reinforcement or
deepening of Confirmation and people are often transformed with inner healing or
physical healing or a gift of the Holy Spirit.
I’ve seen Charismatic Catholics with the gift of tongues and the gift of
prophecy. It’s so eloquent that you
would think that the Lord himself is speaking…….For example, “My people, come
to me and receive my love and my mercy”.
How authentic? I don’t know. I’ve seen a healing and a prophecy in tongues
translated by someone with the gift of interpretation. They take first Corinthians 12:8
literally. The Charismatics pray with
mind, body and soul as raising their arms.
What is the outward sign of Confirmation? The holy chrism. When did Christ institute it? He sent His Holy Spirit on the first
Pentecost. What can you expect in the ritual? I t will probably go like this:
1. After the Gospel, our pastor will present each candidate
and you will move toward the altar before the Bishop with your sponsor, the
same as when you receive Holy Communion.
2. The Bishop gives a homily.
3. Then you will be asked to renew the Baptismal Promises
that parents and your godparents made for you at your Baptism as an adorable
little baby. It’s really a creed. Now you’ll make the promises for yourself.
4. The Bishop and our pastor will lay hands on all of you
by extending their hands over you.
Laying hands dates back to St. Paul and the early Christians. It symbolizes invoking the Holy Spirit. The priest lays hands during the consecration
at Mass and during all the sacraments.
During the Anointing of the Sick and Holy orders, it’s actual
contact.
At the same time the Bishop sings or
says the following prayer:
All Powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you freed your sons and daughters from sin
and gave them new life (i.e., in Baptism).
Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their Helper and Guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of
knowledge and reverence. Fill them with
the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. And you answer AMEN which means? So be it; YES!
These are really the
gifts of the Holy Spirit…….wisdom (the ability to recognize and follow
God’s will); understanding (where the other person is coming from); counsel
(right judgment to make good choices); fortitude (courage); knowledge (ability
to learn more about God); piety (reverence); and fear of the Lord (wonder and
awe). We need these gifts to be
effective soldiers of Christ. They
perfect the other virtues.
Those who consecrate themselves to
God and resign themselves completely to the will of God with complete trust in
Him will reap the fruits of the Holy Spirit to at least some degree… They are a consequence of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. There’s 12……charity, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness,
modesty (in dress so as not to tempt people), self-control, and chastity
(purity – sex only within marriage).
Except for joy and peace, these are basic virtues that we all have to
work on. As defined by St. Thomas
Aquinas, “a virtue is an operative habit essentially good that guides our
conduct”.
5. Anointing. Our pastor will bring the Holy Chrism to the
Bishop. He will present each one of you
by the Confirmation name. The Bishop
will dip his right thumb into the chrism and make the sign of the cross on your
forehead. He will say: Confirmation
Name, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit. And you say?
AMEN. Then the Bishop will
say: Peace be with you. And you answer? And also with you. Why in the form of a cross? It indicates that the confirmed must be ready
to profess his/her faith openly and to practice it fearlessly. It also symbolizes that the recipient
receives strength to bear crosses for the love of God. We must take up our cross and follow Him even
if we must die for our faith.
6. How is the congregation involved in all of this? They also renew their baptismal promises;
they pray for you; and give witness to their faith to give you a boost.
When I received
the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Bishop gave us a slap on the face to
demonstrate that we may have to suffer and even die for the faith someday. We were scared as to how hard we would get
slapped. Actually it was only a tap. We used the name, Holy Ghost, but that was
changed to Holy Spirit which is more precise for the Third Person of the Holy
Trinity..
The Outward Sign of Confirmation – the Holy Chrism
Why does the Church
use anointing? There are three oils
that the Bishop blesses on Tuesday of Holy Week at the Basilica of St. Mary of
the Assumption in Marietta. I’ve been
all over the world and I think that the Basilica in Marietta is one of the most
beautiful……..the invaluable stained glass windows, the paintings imported from
Italy, the murals. The Chrism Mass is
beautiful and a delegation from our parish goes every year.
Over
the centuries oil was used to heal, to comfort, and to give life. In ancient times athletes used to anoint
their bodies with oil to limber up their muscles. Thus the oil used in the sacraments
symbolizes strength of soul and the diffusion of the light of grace into our
souls. There are three kinds of oils.
1. The Oil of the Infirm (Oleum Infirmorum
= OI) is used for the anointing of the sick.
It’s simply olive oil.
2. The Oil of the Catechumens (Oleum Sanctum
= OS), also olive oil, is used for a blessing in preparation for Baptism for
strength against any evil in them and courage to profess the faith. It also symbolizes the need for God’s help. In the photo below it apparently is also used
for anointing the sick.
3. The Holy Chrism (Sanctum Chrisma = SC) is
olive oil mixed with Balsam Oil to give an aromatic perfume like flavor. The balsam in the chrism symbolizes that our
lives should give off the aroma of Christ.
It also expresses freedom from corruption and the sweet odor of virtue. The Holy Chrism signifies the gift of the
Holy Spirit. It is used for Baptism
after the pouring of the water, in Confirmation, and in Holy Orders as a sign
of consecration to God.
Anointing
with these oils has its origin
in the Old Testament which is the promise of the Messiah or Redeemer in
salvation history. The New Testament is
fulfillment. They used oil to anoint 1) priests
who offer sacrifice; 2) prophets who proclaimed the word and
were spokesmen for God as His instruments.
Often in the First Reading on Sunday you will hear “Thus says the
Lord”. 3) kings who are placed by
God to rule the people. Their authority
comes from God. Samuel actually dumped a
bottle of oil on young David’s head upon
anointing him king.
Christ Himself
was anointed as priest, prophet, and king by the Holy Spirit when he was
baptized by St. John the Baptist. As
priest, He offered Himself to the Father at Calvary. As
prophet, He taught and spoke for the Father according to His will. He is Christ the King. Viva Cristo Rey. That was the rallying cry of Blessed Miguel
Pro and Blessed José Sanchez in the Cristero War in the fight for religious
freedom during the intense persecution by the Mexican government. For more
detail on them go to my Blogs #42 & 132.
In a sense we are also priests, prophets
and kings. In fact at Baptism you were
anointed with chrism as a member of the Mystical Body of Christ who is Priest,
Prophet and King. How are we priests? Together with the priest, who is
another Christ (persona Christi), we offer Christ, the great sacrifice to God
the Father. Today the father of the
family is a priest as in the Old Testament until God took away that role when
the Jews adored idols in the desert.
Only the Levites remained faithful and retain that privilege. It’s the father’s job to be the spiritual
leader in the family, to lead family prayer, to make sure every kid is raised
in the faith and every member of the family makes it to Sunday Mass and other devotions. The ordained priest shares in Christ’s role
of teaching, sanctifying, leading the people, and of course being another Christ
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in the administration of the sacraments.
How
are we prophets? We must
proclaim the word. We must defend the
truth with courage. We must be witnesses
for the faith.
How
are we kings? We are a royal
people. We belong to Christ the
King. The kingdom is our inheritance as
adopted sons of God through Christ.
The first Confirmation on Pentecost set the apostles
on fire for the Lord. They
received the gifts of the Holy Spirit and their consequent fruits. They suddenly had a tremendous zeal to
fearlessly spread the faith all over the world and die for Christ if necessary.
How will you be feeling upon being
confirmed? Tongues of fire won’t
appear over your heads. Every person is
different. You may not feel anything out
of the ordinary. If you are well
prepared for Confirmation you might feel a great peace, perhaps a greater zeal
for the Lord. You might feel God’s love
in a special way or feel a great love for Him.
I don’t know. But I do know that
you will have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be developed and used
when you need them if you remain faithful to God and cooperate with the graces
of Confirmation. You will be stronger in
the faith if you remain close to Jesus Christ through prayer, going to
confession monthly, never missing Mass on Sunday, etc.
In summary, Confirmation confirms one
in the faith by binding one more closely to Christ and His Church. It confirms, deepens, and energizes
Baptism. It equips us for that special
mission that God gave to each one of us.
It is your personal Pentecost. Always
be a faithful soldier of Christ, not a deserter. Strive to become
holy, learn more about the faith, do good works, and pray always……..all for the
greater glory of God.
APPENDIX
More on Preparation (taken from a class I gave in 2007)
Parents and Sponsors. Are you going to be faithful after
Confirmation? Are you always going to be
faithful soldiers of Christ? Parents and
sponsors, you have a huge responsibility to guide the person you are entrusted
with for the rest of their lives. You
should know whether he or she is still faithful. Keep in contact at least once or twice a
year. I don’t care where he or she is or
where you are. International calls are
now quite cheap today, especially be Skype.
Parents and Sponsors, pray for them at every Mass you attend, especially
if they start to drift. Sponsor, if you
consider being a sponsor as simply an honor and nothing more…..it would be
better not to accept this big responsibility.
Sunday Mass is a grave obligation and
according to the Catechism, “those who deliberately fail in this obligation
commit a grave sin” (#2181). The only
excuse I can see “you’re sick as a dog and might spread the flu bug or it’s
physically impossible”. I can remember
only twice in my life. Why is Sunday
Mass so important? It’s a bare
minimum. You find time to nourish your
body three times a day with food even if it’s the drive through at
McDonald’s. Can’t you nourish your soul
once a week on Sunday? We receive the
word of God in the readings and the Gospel.
Over a three year period, we cover the essentials of the entire
Bible. The sermon explains the word of
God and we have the faith that the priest is inspired by God. Most important of all is receiving the
Eucharist…..the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ…..Communion with
the infinite.
Once
you really understand and appreciate the Mass, it will not be boring, but
fascinating. Remember that the book
states that by Baptism we are priests, prophets to spread the word of God, and
kings in our dominion over creation. The
Jews in the Old Testament offered a lamb to God and then consumed it. We as priests together with the ordained
priest offer the unblemished Lamb of God…..Jesus Christ Himself to the Father
in atonement for our sins and that of the whole world. Then we consume the Eucharist in the
Communion with the infinite. In reality,
the sacrifice of Calvary is brought to us in an unbloody way that transcends
time. For God time does not exist. He is not limited by time. It is only the perfect sacrifice of Christ
Himself that could make reparation for the sins of Adam and Eve and all the
sins that followed in order to open the gates of heaven for us. Of course, we are free to accept or reject
God and union with Him for eternity.
Father Bill says that in the Mass, the reality of the Last Supper, the
sacrifice of Calvary, and the Resurrection comes to us.
Reading. Let’s get back to my original question. What preparation should we have? Is coming here once a month for a couple of
hours enough? What else should we
do? Faithfully reading your two
textbooks, studying for the monthly quizzes, and doing the little assignments
are a bare minimum. Your two textbooks
are excellent and easy reading. The red
book gives a very good summary of the essentials of the faith and beautifully
explains them. I got some wonderful
insights reading your assignments for today.
I would suggest that you keep these two texts as part of your personal
lifetime library. Refer to them and
review them from time to time.
What
two books are musts in any personal family library of a faithful Catholic? The Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. It explains all of the
teachings of the Church in detail with references to the biblical texts. The red handbook of yours makes constant
references to the official Catechism. We
have about 10 copies of the official Catechism which you can borrow from the
CCD Office next door. The Apostolate of
Family Consecration out of Bloomingdale, Ohio (www.familyland.org 1-800-FOR-MARY)
publishes a detailed two volume edition of the Catechism with more explanation
and illustrations for families. They
have excellent family retreats of fun and prayer…..pray and play. The Catholic
Almanac is also excellent for a personal and family library. It is a mini-encyclopedia full of facts,
history, and other data. You can obtain
the almanac and the official catechism from Our Sunday Visitor at www.osv.org
or 1-800-348-2440.
This
may be your last chance to take a course which deepens your faith. The average Catholic in the pew knows very
little about the faith. Keep learning
about the faith or you’ll lose it. Let
this course be a good start for a life of learning about the faith through
discussion, reading Catholic newspapers, magazines, books, sermons, EWTN
Catholic Television via satellite, etc.
Prayer. What else can you do to get the
most out of this wonderful sacrament of Confirmation? Pray, pray, and pray some more as the
apostles did for 10 days. Prayer is
simply communication with God. We
converse with Him and we listen to Him through His word in the Bible and
through inspiration. St. Paul in one of
his epistles, exhorts us to pray always.
How is that possible? That
includes reading the Bible for 10 – 15 minutes each day.
You
can say a little morning offering when you get out of bed in the morning: Lord, I offer this day to you. Help me to make this day worthy of you. Good enough.
I like to add; “Dear Holy Spirit, tell me what to do, what to say, and
what to write today. Don’t let me do,
say, or write anything stupid.” You can
say a short prayer while walking down the street or between classes. Literally walk with the Lord. “Lord, help me
in this exam coming up; help me to deal with this person in a Christian
way.” “Lord, I lost my patience
again. That was a mean thing for me to
say. I messed that one up. I’m sorry about that. Help me to do better”. “I’m really upset; help me to get through
this. Give me peace.” Thank you, Lord, for helping me to do well on
the exam. Glory to you, O Lord.”
You
know, our parish has something very special one Sunday a month that many
parishes don’t have. That’s Eucharistic
Adoration. We have to thank
Bruce Davison and Father Bill for that.
What was his role? He had to
guarantee that there would always be someone with the Blessed Sacrament. Once or twice a year we have all night
adoration. He has the stamina and
endurance to pray their all night long.
Isn’t that boring? Does he fall
asleep sometimes? What does he do all
night? You really should spend at least
a half hour to an hour in adoration. I
think that you’ll find it very satisfying…..just peacefully talking to God
about your problems, dreams, goals, examining your life, thanking Him,
glorifying Him, etc. The knights of old
would spend a whole night in front of the Blessed Sacrament on the night before
being knighted.
With
this kind of preparation, we get the more graces and more out of this wonderful
sacrament. After the apostles were
baptized in the Holy Spirit, they were on fire to spread the good news. With a good preparation you’ll be on fire for
the Lord…..if not now, then later when the graces of Confirmation take
hold. That’s our goal…..that the Holy
Spirit set you on fire to do your part so that His kingdom will come and His
will be done on earth as it is in heaven or does that scare you? Then when you die, the world will be just a
little bit better because of you and you and you.
What is Confirmation All About?
Why
is this sacrament so important that it demands such an intense preparation?
On Fire. Some people are enthusiastic and on fire about
the faith and eager to share it. Confirmation has a part in that. It was James Davison who first organized the
beautiful rosary in the park in 2008 while still in high school. It was in commemoration of Mary’s last
appearance in Fatima. Her message was
to repent and pray the rosary for peace in order to avoid a second world war
and even a third one. About 50 people
showed up. It took a little courage to
ask Father Bill if he could do it. You
know such witness and example from a young person often is more effective than
the same thing from an old guy me.
Be bold. A few years ago, I shared with Bruce Davison
about my getting into trouble in the University of Rio Grande. In a general way at the beginning of each
course, I said a prayer so general that even a Muslim or Hindu could accept
it. It was simply asking God to help me
to serve the students well and help them get the most out of the course. The first semester I had no trouble, but the
next semester, somebody reported me. One
administrator was horrified. “He prayed
in class; that’s against the Constitution”.
Actually, I continued to fight and the University lawyer said that a
silent prayer was permissible. Anyhow, Mr.
Davison told me, ‘Paul, be bold; be bold.”
I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life. That’s what Confirmation is all about: “Be bold”; to do what’s right, despite the
risk, despite the consequences. .
Put you faith and the teachings of the
Church in practice. Pam, you were a
nurse at the Holzer Hospital and a very good one. Your boss tells you to administer the morning
after pill which is an abortifacient which aborts any human life which may be
conceived. You might lose your job? What would you do? Pam, be bold.
Soldiers of Christ. Bruce Davison is as tough as nails and on
fire for the Lord. He was a non-commissioned
officer in the United States Army in Viet Nam.
He was an elite Airborne-Ranger, the best the army has…..trained to jump
out of airplanes and survive off the land behind enemy lines. He led combat missions and patrols to find
out where the enemy is. After getting
out of the army he became a soldier of Christ.
He’s a pillar of the parish today.
It was he who persuaded Fr. Bill to have a monthly Eucharistic
Adoration. He had to guarantee that
there would always be a person present.
He’s kept his word and has stayed all night for all night adoration.
* Being a soldier of Christ means
fighting for what is right even if it means being shot at…..i.e., being
smeared, accused of wrongdoing, defamed, lied about, sued, etc.
* Being a soldier of Christ means
fighting for the poor, the oppressed, and the unborn.
* Being a soldier of Christ means
having the courage to defend the Church when it is being attacked or falsely
accused when the easiest thing to do is to keep your mouth shut and stay out of
trouble. In order to do that, you must
know your faith and that’s why we are here.
Bringing Christ’s love to others. Christ often manifests His love to others
through us…..our kindness, generosity, our love in helping others.
Missionaries. On Ascension Thursday, Christ commanded His
apostles to teach all nations (Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15). Is that only for the apostles? It’s also for us.
Don’t
just keep the faith; spread it. We must
be alert for opportunities to evangelize…..to help to establish the Lord’s
kingdom and to share the good news that Christ suffered and died for our sins
in order to make reparation for our sins and open the gates of heaven. All we have to do is follow Him and His teaching.
Briefly
how do we do this? By prayer, by
example, by word, by deed. Don’t force
the gospel down people’s throats nor impose yourself. But don’t be timid and afraid either. Wait for little opportunities and pounce on
them.
Being
a missionary includes helping others to grow in the faith, love of God, and
knowledge of Him and His Church. This
includes our relatives, siblings, friends, and classmates. How many of you have fallen away Catholics in
your extended family? I bet that we all
do.
Every
one of us reaches a point where we become physically helpless or incapacitated,
old, and sick. Can we still be
missionaries? We can unite our crosses
with the cross of Christ and offer them to God as a dynamic prayer for our
loved ones, the Church, the missions, and a better world. That sick person may be more valuable than
the president. That’s the great fallacy
of euthanasia. We don’t know how God
works in a person to prepare Him for eternity.
** At
the very top of the first page is “AMDG”.
It is the abbreviation for the Latin “Ad majorem Dei gloriam” which
translates to “For the greater glory of God”.
St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, originated
this
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