Questioning Confirmation {IF You Believe...}

Bishop Elizondo confirms Joseph Benedict, sealing him with the Holy Spirit

Baptism in the Holy Spirit (click & listen)

 Preaching on Pentecost Sunday, Father Jim Northrop shares the down-side of receiving confirmation without proper preparation, and offers hope and concrete suggestions for a renewal of our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Flowing from the great joy of Joseph's confirmation on Ascension Thursday came a few insights into the tremendous cascade of grace possible through this sacrament.  Confirmation completes Christian initiation and infuses us with the Holy Spirit, flooding our souls with graces and gifts to support us on our mission.  Celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost 9 days after Ascension (& confirmation) allowed each one of us (if properly disposed and willing) to receive anew the gifts and graces of our own confirmations and baptisms.

A Protestant friend who could not attend Joseph's confirmation sent a card instead.  Curiously, the words of congratulations were tampered with a great big 'IF:"

I remember when I was confirmed.  I was 12 years old and I thought I was just graduating from my Sunday School classes!  I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about!  I believed all the right doctrines~ but nothing happened in my heart~ so there was no real faith to confirm!

It wasn't until I was 16 that someone told me how I could know Jesus personally.  I decided then that I wanted to follow Him~ and I've never looked back.

The confirmation of true faith is a doorway to a meaningful and abundant life; it's a decision you'll never regret.  If that's what's in your heart, Joseph~ to follow Jesus, to live your life for Him~ then I commend you.  And I wish you all God's best and His richest blessings as you live each day for Him.

At first read, the card's remarks were a bit shocking.  Reading 'between the lines' seemed to reveal the sender's doubt that someone being confirmed in the Catholic Church could have the "true" faith.  After prayerful consideration, I've come to appreciate the card's undercurrent of apostolic zeal.

It's almost as if our Protestant friend was privy to the pre-Pentecost preaching of Pope Francis. Warning us repeatedly not to fall into the trap of being lukewarm Christians, Pope Francis urged us to be like Saint Paul and step out of our comfort zones to reach out with the love of God to everyone:

Paul is a nuisance: he is a man who, with his preaching, his work, his attitude irritates others, because testifying to Jesus Christ and the proclamation of Jesus Christ makes us uncomfortable, it threatens our comfort zones – even Christian comfort zones, right? It irritates us. The Lord always wants us to move forward, forward, forward ... not to take refuge in a quiet life or in cozy structures, no?... And Paul, in preaching of the Lord, was a nuisance. But he had deep within him that most Christian of attitudes: Apostolic zeal. He had its apostolic zeal. He was not a man of compromise. No! The truth: forward! The proclamation of Jesus Christ, forward! .

There are backseat Christians, right? Those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to bring people to the Church through proclamation and Apostolic zeal. Today we can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this Apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when things are too quiet in the Church, the grace to go out to the outskirts of life. The Church has so much need of this! Not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ. So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of Apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal. And if we annoy people, blessed be the Lord. Onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, ‘take courage!'  ~ Pope Francis 

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/16/pope_at_mass:_an_apostolic_nuisance/en1-692628  of the Vatican Radio websi

We know, with absolute~Biblical~certainty, that the fullness of Truth resides in the one, holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church founded by Christ Himself (1 Timothy 3:15).  We believe~Biblically~that Jesus remains physically, visibly present in every Catholic Church in His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist (John 6:53-58).  From the day of the Last Supper, our priests, by the power of the Holy Spirit conferred at ordination, transform ordinary bread and wine into the Real body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

When we are confirmed in this Truth, anointed, we are fully prepared to defend and proclaim it with love and conviction by our lives.  This outpouring of the Holy Spirit should lead us to a greater love for our Lord Jesus and a deep conviction to follow wherever He may lead.  Unfortunately, as Father Jim Northrop outlined in his powerful Pentecost homily (linked above), many Catholics are not taught to receive the sacrament of confirmation in a state of grace (confessing and repenting) and so may be spiritually dead at the time.  This need not be a permanent state of spiritual misery, for when we approach the Lord in a spirit of repentance and confess our sins, God in His mercy will restore us to full stature.  Then we can begin to pray earnestly for graces and our prayers will be answered.

If this awesome Truth sounds annoying, blessed be the Lord!

Our Protestant friend, a believer and a follower of Christ to be sure, (and a very nice person to boot)  has yet to accept the Biblical fact that Jesus really did leave us with a visible authority on earth.  To this day~ despite relentless attacks and countless harms brought by sin from within and without~ our Church has been protected from the gates of hell, as promised.

Our true faith is indeed a 'doorway to a meaningful and abundant life' and we hope and pray that those who won't come near it for fear or misunderstanding will open their hearts to the prompting of the Holy Spirit; and that those who are in it will embrace the fullness of faith and enter more fully into an abundant life in the Holy Spirit.

Take This Seriously {Sunday Tradition}

Father Joseph invites the parents of soon-to-be-baptized children to state their intentions before blessing their children and entering the Chruch for the great celebration of rebirth through water and the Holy Spirit on Easter Morning.

This weekend our little local parish welcomed a visiting priest, Father Treacy, who celebrated the Masses for Father Joseph as he was away at a conference with the local Newman Catholic Campus Ministry crew.  Nearing 100 years of age, this holy priest, through a thick Irish accent, preached plainly, forcefully, and with great love, about a matter that can cause the congregation to squirm in the pews: the sacrilege of receiving Jesus in Holy Communion if one is not properly disposed.   Father Tracy taught the Biblical truth that if anyone holding a grudge or hating any other person should come forward to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, that person is committing a sacrilege (a grave offense against God). 

God's mercy knows no bounds, and anyone who humbly and honestly confesses his sins and amends his life can be returned to the state of grace required for properly receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. 

Just over 100 years after Jesus' Resurrection, a bold Christian named Justin also preached fearlessly about the proper reception of Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass:

From the first apology in defense of the Christians by Saint Justin, martyr (written A.D. 151)  The celebration of the Eucharist

No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.

We do not consume the Eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.

The apostles, in their recollections, which are called gospels, handed down to us what Jesus commanded them to do. They tell us that he took bread, gave thanks and said: Do this in memory of me. This is my body. In the same way he took the cup, he gave thanks and said: This is my blood. The Lord gave this command to them alone. Ever since then we have constantly reminded one another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always united. For all that we receive we praise the Creator of the universe through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us; he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray.

On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability, and the people give assent by saying, “Amen.” The Eucharist is distributed, everyone present communicates, and the deacons take it to those who are absent.

The wealthy, if they wish, may make a contribution, and they themselves decide the amount. The collection is placed in the custody of the president, who uses it to help the orphans and widows and all who for any reason are in distress, whether because they are sick, in prison, or away from home. In a word, he takes care of all who are in need.
We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the world, and because on that same day our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For he was crucified on Friday and on Sunday he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them the things that we have passed on for your consideration.

St. Justin's description of the Holy Mass, written in A.D. 155, very accurately describes the Holy Mass celebrated in our Catholic Church today.  If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself!

Italy Day 18 {Lanciano}

Then many of his disciples who were listening said,

"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them,

"Does this shock you?" 

 -John 6:60-61

The 8th century Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, depicted in stained glass

Our view from the Adoration Chapel inside St. Francis Church (San Francesco, 1258), built over a pre-existing 7th century church.

Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

To adore Jesus' Real Presence in Flesh and Blood, we drove from Vieste to Lanciano, home of a Eucharistic Miracle from the 8th century. Doubts about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist began at the very moment He said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (John 6: 53-56)
An 8th century priest holding the Blessed Sacrament at the consecration, doubted whether or not it was really Jesus' flesh and blood. He suddenly found himself holding flesh and blood (later scientific studies have confirmed the type of tissue as heart muscle; the blood types of the flesh and blood is a match). 
 
We were somewhat shocked at the sheer number of visitors waiting to enter St. Francis Church in Lanciano, re-opening at 3PM after reposa.  Being a Sunday, the crowds at this pilgrimage site even in the "low" season were vast.  Not expecting to have a very intimate experience among such a throng of pilgrims, we entered the Church, and to our amazement found most were seated in the congregation, as if for Mass, listening to an Italian lecture (probably a teaching about the Eucharistic Miracle).   We entered a chapel in the back of the Church, and in private silence adored the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord; True Flesh and True Blood, incorrupt since the 700's!  Like a miracle at the miracle, we were blessed with a private viewing and found the silence for prayer and adoration awesome, especially considering what we had expected would be a crowded and less-than-intimate experience.

We believe that at every Holy Communion, at every Mass, we encounter the True Presence of Christ, given to us as the Bread of Angels; supernatural nutrition for our journey on Earth. Adoring the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano helped us to grow closer to Christ and deepen our faith as a family, and we will forever remember this divine encounter on our pilgrimage.

Noteworthy:

Olives for sale at the street fair in Lanciano, which we visited during reposa.

An interesting billboard in Lanciano