Faith in Focus: Gifts of the Holy Spirit

April 26, 2023

by Fr. John Whitney, S.J

Holy breathing of God,
I feel you stirring.
Warmed by this breath good things begin to grow.
Even in strong, wealthy lands,
fresh mobilizing calls evoke planetary piety,
winning the hearts and the hands of the caring:
each in her chosen path,
each with a special gift,
take their stand
to create a world more fit for living,
more just and more humane.
~ Dom Helder Camara

This last Thursday, more than two-dozen members of our community were confirmed in the Catholic Church. Like Jesus, rising from the waters of the Jordan, each of these young women and men had already been baptized in water and dressed in grace. Most of them have grown up in communities and households touched by the tradition of Sacrament and mission. Most have received regularly the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and are growing to know him—not just through the vision of their parents, but in their own right. Through Baptism and Eucharist, they have developed a relationship to Christ and to the Church; yet, now something more is offered to them. In this sacrament, the People of God, through the Archbishop, receives these young lives, in their still maturing state, and confirms for them that their lives are holy and chosen by God. Just as when the Holy Spirit blesses Jesus at the Jordan, so these young women and men are likewise called to acknowledge that they are God’s beloved, in whom God is well pleased. And as Jesus was missioned by the Spirit in that moment, so too, last Thursday, our brothers and sisters were missioned to use their gifts to bless the world that stands like a mystery before them.

As a visible representative of the long tradition of sacramental ministry—of service in grace that goes back to the Apostles—Archbishop Cordileone raised his hands over these young people—as he did, a few moments later, over the bread and wine offered at the altar—and consecrated them for their life in Christ. This epiclesis (i.e., invocation of the Holy Spirit) is not a product of the Archbishop’s personal power. Nor is it some kind of magic—it is a prayer, not a spell. Rather, this blessing is a remembrance of a promise of love and presence, which is at the heart of the Church. It is a promise Jesus discovered after his own baptism, as he was driven into the desert by the Spirit to prepare himself for his public ministry. And it is a promise that he left with his disciple on that hillside near Jerusalem before his ascension: a promise to be with them, no matter where they go in the world and to abide with them until the end of time. Since the earliest days of the Church, the anointing of the faithful by the bishop—who represents not just himself, nor not a particular community of faith, but the whole Church across time and space—has been the culmination of the sacrament begun at baptism, reminding the believer that she has entered the whole body of Christ and that the whole of the Church is now in her care.

Following this prayer of consecration, the candidates stood individually before the Archbishop, supported by the Sponsor whom they had chosen to present them for reception into the ministry of Christ—just as Barnabas presented the convert, Saul, in Acts of the Apostles. In that moment of anointing, each of these young people was called by name and marked with Sacred Chrism. And, as that wonderful scent of balsam and spices rose in their nostrils and the oil dripped on their foreheads, the Archbishop offered each one a sign of peace, on behalf of the whole Church. In this sacred greeting, the Archbishop acknowledged each of the confirmed as a companion in the Church’s ministry, and not just as a student on-the way. For like the Archbishop—and all of us confirmed in the faith since that first Pentecost—these young women and men are now partners in the work of a Church that is their own. There is no “they” to the Church now, only “we.”
Blessed and anointed, the confirmed assume the priesthood of Christ, once realized only in Jesus. Through their union with Christ, they are called to do the priestly work of making this often broken world a bit more holy. They are called to do the prophetic work of proclaiming in word and deed the movements of God in their hearts, and to stand faithfully by the truth as they discern it. And they are called to the kingly service of Christ by loving the whole world and being willing to lay down their lives for their sisters and brothers. Priests, prophets, and kings (or queens)—so are they now, so are we all in the liberating and empowering mercy of God.

As often happens in the celebration of confirmation, much was said of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit conferred by this sacrament. But all these gifts—wisdom, understanding, right judgment, fortitude, knowledge, reverence, and awe—are secondary effects of the true and lasting gift that we must pray these young people will open their hearts to receive. For what God offers them, most profoundly, is a wondrous relationship of heart meeting heart; of the Spirit of God, the love of God, embracing the hearts of these young men and women. They, in themselves, are the true gift of the Spirit, for they are the Spirit enfleshed, for the life of the world. May they deepen in this truth and live always in this gift.

Fr. John Whitney, S.J