I would now like to speak especially to
the young people who are about to receive the Sacrament of
Confirmation. Today's Gospel has special meaning for you, for it
says that "Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, "Peace
be with you," and showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples were filled with joy when they
saw the Lord, and he said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the
Father sent me, so I am sending you." After saying this he breathed
on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 20,20-22).
Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit is going
to be poured out upon you in a particular way. You will hear the
words of the Church spoken over you, calling upon the Holy Spirit to
confirm your faith, to seal you in his love, to strengthen you for
his service. You will then take your place among fellow-Christians
throughout the world, full citizens now of the People of God. You
will witness to the truth of the Gospel in the name of Jesus Christ.
You will live your lives in such a way as to make holy all human
life. Together with all the confirmed, you will become living stones
in the cathedral of peace. Indeed you will be called by God to be
instruments of his peace.
Today you must understand that you are not
alone. We are one body, one people, one Church of Christ. The
sponsor who stands at your side represents for you the whole
community. Together, with a great crowd of witnesses drawn from all
peoples and every age, you represent Christ. You are young people
who have received a mission from Christ, for he says to you today:
"As the Father sent me, so I am sending you."
"Jesus breathed on them and said: 'Receive
the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are
forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained'" (Jn.
20,23).
On the first Pentecost our Savior gave the
Apostles the power to forgive sins when he poured into their hearts
the gift of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit comes to you today
in the Sacrament of Confirmation, to involve you more completely in
the Church's fight against sin and in her mission of fostering
holiness. He comes to dwell more fully in your hearts and to
strengthen you for the struggle with evil. My dear young people, the
world of today needs you, for it needs men and women who are filled
with the Holy Spirit. It needs your courage and hopefulness, your
faith and your perseverance. The world of tomorrow will be built by
you.
Today you receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit so that you may work with deep faith and with abiding
charity, so that you may help to bring to the world the fruits of
reconciliation and peace. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit and his
manifold gifts, commit yourselves wholeheartedly to the Church's
struggle against sin. Strive to be unselfish; try not to be obsessed
with material things. Be active members of the People of God; be
reconciled with each other and devoted to the work of justice, which
will bring peace on earth.
"How many are your works, O Lord!" (Ps.
104,24).
These words of the responsorial psalm evoke
gratitude from our hearts and a hymn of praise from our lips. Indeed
how many are the works of the Lord, how great are the effects of the
Holy Spirit's action in Confirmation! When this sacrament is
conferred, the words of the psalm are fulfilled among us: "You send
forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the
earth" (v. 30).
On the first day of Pentecost the Holy
Spirit came upon the Apostles and upon Mary and filled them with his
power. Today we remember that moment and we open ourselves again to
the gift of that same Holy Spirit. In that Spirit we are baptized.
In that Spirit we are confirmed. In that Spirit we are called to
share in the mission of Christ. In that Spirit we shall indeed
become the People of Pentecost, the apostles of our time. "Come, O
Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the
fire of your love." Amen.
Taken form http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2seven.htm |