Every once in a while, I have two (or more) subjects that I want to write about. I can either choose one over the other or try to work them both in without cutting either one short. That can be a challenge when the subjects are totally different. But every once in a while, they mesh together so well that I couldn’t have planned it any better. That’s when I tell myself that the Holy Spirit has managed the situation in a way that looks like simple coincidence. This week, in fact, the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the entire situation.
Today is the great feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost Sunday. Christ promised to send the Spirit upon His followers, and we see the difference the Spirit made when He descended upon the Apostles in tongues of flame. These men, who were so timid that they had locked themselves in the upper room, now went out fearlessly to proclaim the good news of Christ. These uneducated men were suddenly able to make themselves understood by people from many different nations and languages. The Holy Spirit made a noticeable difference.
Pentecost is a promise of the Holy Spirit to the entire Church. But this week we have another promise of the Spirit to an important portion of our parish. This Friday evening, Bishop Zubik will visit our parish to give the Sacrament of Confirmation to our eighth graders. Rather than tongues of fire descending from heaving, these young men and women will experience the Sacred Chrism anointing their foreheads as the bishop proclaims, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” The newly confirmed will then seek to live the faith with the help of the Spirit. Like the Apostles, they will be strengthened by the grace they receive.
Comparing Confirmation to Pentecost is a great opportunity, but it also can be dangerous. We may expect our eighth graders to experience the same dramatic results that the Apostles had. As the Apostles no longer locked themselves in their rooms, so the parents of our eighth graders may expect the newly confirmed to tear themselves away from their cell phone screens. As the Apostles could be understood by the crowds they spoke to, so parents may expect the newly ordained to speak to them in complete sentences and without heavy sighs or eye rolls. At this point we have to remember the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, “Grace builds on nature.” God can work miracles, as he did at Pentecost, but He usually chooses to work gradually and through natural developments. Teenagers who receive Confirmation may still have to go through the painful process of growing up, but they will not do so alone. The Holy Spirit will be with them, even as they struggle with the normal issues of adolescence. The Holy Spirit is also with their parents, helping them to struggle with the normal relationships with teens. And in all of us, the Holy Spirit is a special gift that allows grace to build on nature and bring us closer to God.
Father H
