Sunday, June 19, 2016

The fruit of Peter's profession

Here is the reflection I prepared for this weekend's gatherings of God's people.  We celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation as well with one of the students who was not able to be present a few weeks ago when her friends took this next step in their faith journey, and this allowed me to provide some thoughts to feed the hearts and spirits of all those who were present.


Continuing education for disciples

Last month, a number of young people in this parish celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation.   They declared their belief in God, in Jesus and they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit:  wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder and awe in God’s presence.  There was one more student who was not able to be present when her friends were Confirmed; on that day, she was in Ottawa, taking part in the National Science Fair.  She’s a very bright girl: already filled with the Spirit’s gifts.  Today, we finally have an opportunity for her to stand in this community and to profess her belief aloud.  Today, she will read aloud in this community for the first time.  She may be slightly nervous right now, but I know that with our support and prayer, she will welcome the Spirit’s gifts and joyfully take her place in the community, actively celebrating her faith and sharing the wisdom that God imparts with others.

As this young woman stands before us to mark this rite of passage, all of us who are present here are brought back to the moment when we too affirmed our faith publicly; the day when the Spirit’s special gifts were bestowed upon us and the Lord poured out a spirit of compassion and supplication upon us (cf Zech 12:10).  We remember the moment when Chrism oil was placed upon our own foreheads, when the words were spoken aloud: Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we replied with the ancient affirmation: Amen!  We remember the greeting that was offered to us on that day: Peace be with you, and our own halting but hopeful reply: And with your spirit!

These few words are spoken and then the moment has passed, but the truth they contain continually unfolds in our lives from that moment onward, and Jesus, true to his promise, has never abandoned his disciples.  He is always with us.  With the Holy Spirit’s gifts to guide us, each of us lives our life in faith.  We gather with others who also are disciples to listen to God’s word and we receive the gifts of forgiveness and special food to help us on our journey.  These gatherings and this special food furnish opportunities for us to continue our education in faith, to be reminded about the precious gifts that the Holy Spirit has entrusted to us.

Jesus’ disciples have always been able to benefit from this continuing education.  The first twelve disciples were confirmed in their faith on the day when they were gathered in prayer with Jesus, but before he could do this, He asked them a question, as if to put them to the test: Who do you say that I am? (Lk 9:20).  Every one who is a disciple of Jesus must also answer this question.  For some of us, the reply echoes the words of the crowds who followed him: some holy person of which we have heard, or an ancient prophet who has arisen (Lk 9:19), but for those of us who have personally experienced Jesus’ love and compassion, our response is more like that of Peter: You are the Christ of God (Lk 9:20).  These words appear to have been spoken spontaneously that day, revealing Peter’s innermost hope, and this is also our hope.

We believe that Jesus is the promised one of God, and that we are all sons and daughters of God through faith (Gal 3:26).  That means that we are all brothers and sisters, walking the path of faith together, welcoming those who come to pray with us, and sharing the gifts that were entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit on the day of our Confirmation with all those we meet.

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