Congratulations to Confirmandis, sponsors and their families!
Congratulations to Confirmandis, sponsors and their families!
First of all please join me to congratulate our young women and men on their Confirmation. I would like to invite them to join to reflect on the Sacrament of Confirmation. Most of us may not remember our baptism. We were so little, our parents and godparents stood up for us and expressed their commitment to bring us in faith. When we grew up, we stood up for ourselves and proclaimed our faith. This week, our young people are doing the same at their Sacrament of Confirmation.
All of us may say, “I know Jesus.” Then the question is how deep do we know him? The Apostles were the closest followers of Jesus. They walked with Jesus, witnessed miracles, and listened to his teachings. They might have thought that they knew him well, but that changed after Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. They started to get to know him again, and in its fullness on Pentecost. At the coming of the Holy Spirit, their eyes were opened, they understood the teaching of Jesus, and they got ever closer to Jesus. The Pentecost experience filled their hearts with joy and courage. They were no more afraid or they understood the true meaning of peace Jesus shared with them. After the resurrection Jesus breathed on the and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” It was a gradual journey of receiving the Holy Spirit, and its culmination at Pentecost.
Another way to look at the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, it is our Pentecost, our young people are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. The rest of us renew our commitment. Confirmation is one of the seven Sacraments, and one of the three Sacraments of Christian Initiation. Those who receive Sacraments of initiation as an adult, they receive all three Sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation) at the Easter Vigil.
Our young men and women were preparing for a long time for this day, for the reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation. For the Apostles, Pentecost was life changing. Let us pray it will be the same for our young people – fill them with the gift of the Holy Spirit. What are they? There are seven of them: 1. Wisdom which helps to understand things from God’s point of view; 2. Understanding which helps us to understand the deeper meaning of supernatural truth; 3. Knowledge helps us to appreciate the life God has given: begin to see God’s presence in people, things, and nature and treat them with proper dignity; 4. Right Judgment or Counsel which helps to make the right decision God would want me to make; 5. Reverence or Piety which helps to trust God more, relationships become stronger; 6. Courage or Fortitude which helps to stand up for what we believe; 7. Fear of the Lord or Awe and Wonder which helps to say on the right path to heaven. Fear of the Lord is because I love God and I want to please Him.
In today’s Gospel of Luke, Luke is presenting two different accounts. Two disciples were explaining how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Among the Jews, this was a ceremonial gesture that began the celebration of an ordinary meal. For Christians, breaking of the bread was used as a description of the Eucharistic celebration. We read in the Acts of the Apostles 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” While the two were sharing the Emmaus experience Jesus appeared to them again and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He showed them His hands and feet to remove their doubts. Last Sunday had the Gospel of John 20:27, where Jesus appeared to the apostles and showed his nail marks and asked doubting Thomas to come to faith. Jesus showed them His risen body and assured us of the physical nature of our own resurrection on the Last Day. The resurrected body is a spiritual body.
Jesus reminded them that His suffering, death, and third day rise from the dead are the fulfillment of Moses, prophets, and psalms. There is an emphasis on the term third day, and we can see a couple of references in the Old Testament. In the Book of Genesis 22:13, Isaac was for three days under a death sentence until God intervened to give him back alive to Abraham on the third day. In Jonah1:17, the experience of Jonah coming forth from a whale after three days in its stomach, foreshadowed Christ’s resurrection from the grave after three days. In Hosea 6:2, Hosea depicted Israel’s restoration from exile as a third-day resurrection.
Let us continue to meditate on the Paschal mysteries and get deeper into our faith through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.