by Bishop James Conley
I always enjoy this time of year for several reasons. Despite the penitential nature of the season of Lent, I always look forward to the invitation by the Church to get back into spiritual shape by entering into a deeper commitment to prayer, fasting and self-sacrifice. To use a baseball analogy, Lent is a season of spiritual “spring training” – Go Royals! And the primary purpose of Lent is to prepare for Holy Week and Easter, when we renew our baptismal vows by celebrating the Paschal Mystery, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord.
This Sunday is Laetare Sunday, the halfway point of Lent, where the Church reminds us, that Holy Week is just around the corner.
We are also on the cusp of spring, and the trees are beginning to show their buds and getting ready to don their new “dresses.” The days are getting longer and sunnier, and the fields are beginning to show a hint of green. Nature will soon explode with new life and new hope.
I also enjoy being out on the “ole Chrism trail,” celebrating the sacrament Confirmation in many of our parishes. It affords me the opportunity to experience, in real time, the breadth and the beauty of the Diocese of Lincoln, from Auburn to Grant, and from Crete to Colon.
Last weekend I had Confirmations in Orleans, Roseland, and at both of our parishes in Hastings – St. Michael and St. Cecilia. I love the beauty of our rural communities, the people, and the history of the Catholic faith in southern Nebraska.
After one of the Confirmations this past weekend, a gentleman came up to me after Mass told me he still remembers the day of his own Confirmation like it was yesterday, nearly 80 years ago. He is now 90 years old, and he shared with me that his Confirmation was the happiest day of his life.
When a couple stands before the altar on their wedding day, the priest asks them three questions. The last question and perhaps the one that imposes the greatest responsibility is this: “Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?” And the bridegroom and bride answer, “I am.” The solemn responsibility of handing on the faith to the next generation is, indeed, a great and noble task, particularly in these times.
Years later, when the day comes to present their child to the Church to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, they are making good on the promise they took on their wedding day.
I always congratulate the parents in fulfilling, in part, this solemn responsibility they undertook on their wedding day. I then remind them that, although Confirmation is a huge benchmark in the spiritual formation of their children, they still have a way to go in the fulfillment of their obligation. Their child is now entering into the challenging years of adolescence. These are years of more freedom and responsibility, years of greater spiritual growth and maturity in the Lord. They will begin making more and more choices, choices that will shape and form the trajectory of their adult life.
Adolescence is a risky time of life as they enter a culture and a world that is becoming more and more hostile to the Christian life. These years are fraught with temptations. The world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly beckoning them choose a path of pride, self-gratification, and pleasure.
But as beloved sons and daughters of a loving Father, we are called to higher things. We are called to lives of deep meaning, purpose, and great joy. We are called to become saints. We called to give ourselves to God and to each other in self-sacrificing love.
The wonderful paradox of the Christian life is that when we give ourselves away in love, we discover our true selves. We discover who we are meant to be from all eternity. We discover the greatness and the heroic calling of the Christian life. We discover true happiness, the happiness of a life well lived, and the happiness of everlasting life in heaven.
I always end my Confirmation homily by addressing the sponsors. I ask them to do three things to be a good sponsor. I ask them to pray every day for the one they are sponsoring. Secondly, I ask them to live their Catholic faith well, to model what it means to be an adult Catholic: go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Days, to frequent the sacrament of confession knowing that we are all wounded sinners and in need of the mercy of God, and to live for others, particularly those who are less fortunate and who are in need. And the third thing I ask them to do is to be there for the one they are sponsoring. To assist their parents in providing advice, encouragement, and support.
We are never alone in the Christian life. We have Jesus in our hearts, we have family and friends who love us and care for us, and we have the saints who have gone before us and who are now in heaven, interceding for us cheering us on to victory.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons famously said, “the glory of God is man fully alive.” We all want to be fully alive, and God wants us to be fully alive. We are all in this together as the Body of Christ.
May these final weeks of Lent lead you more deeply into the mystery of God’s love for you. And may the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ renew the joy of Easter in your heart.
