Confirmation Mass
Feast of St. Benedict
11 July 2020 at Bruder Klaus
Prv 2:1-9
Rsp. 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
Mt. 19: 27-29
The custom, not only here at Bruder
Klaus but also elsewhere in Switzerland has been to celebrate the Sacrament of
Confirmation in the context of Sunday Mass, wearing red vestments for the Holy
Spirit, but taking the readings for the Sunday. It is actually a very good
tradition, one that encouraged me on this Saturday to look to the saint of the
day, Saint Benedict, Abbot, one of the major patron saints of Europe, to find
my inspiration for a few words to all those gathered here.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
The Collect for the feast of St.
Benedict sums up very well my prayer for all of you today:
O
God, who made the Abbot Saint Benedict an outstanding master in the school of
divine service, grant, we pray, that, putting nothing before love of you, we
may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your commands.”
“O
God…putting nothing before love of you…”
When we say that religious orders like the Benedictines or the
numerous religious congregations in the Church are institutes of perfection we
are saying and at the same time not saying something that should play a role in
the lives of all of us who are baptized. Certainly, we are saying that
religious men and women have a very high calling (putting nothing before love of you, O God). Nonetheless, we are
not saying that the rest of us, ordinary priests and lay people, have nothing
in common with religious or that we do not share a certain identity with
members of institutes of perfection.
I remember studying Canon Law and discovering, but never
quite understanding, that the big division in law in the Church is between
clerics and non-clerics, between bishops, priests and deacons on one side and
the laity and religious on the other, that religious were to be categorized
under the heading of the laity. That would mean that all of you have more in
common with religious than you do with me or than I do with you. Let me put it
another way! If you will, you confirmands are just as much called to holiness
of life as any monk, nun, religious brother or sister. We could spend a lot of
time talking about what that means in terms of your reception of Confirmation
which brings to completion your Christian initiation, which began with Baptism.
Perhaps the best way to understand the baptismal calling in
which you will now be strengthened or confirmed in this Sacrament of the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit, Confirmation, can be found in our first reading from the
Old Testament, from the Book of Proverbs. It is a father/son advice kind of
thing:
“My son, if you receive my words and
treasure my commands, turning your ear to wisdom, inclining your heart to
understanding; yes, if you call to intelligence, and to understanding raise
your voice; if you seek her like silver, and like hidden treasures search her
out…”
While yet a boy, St. Benedict was sent to Rome to study by
his well-to-do parents. They sent him together with his nanny to look after
him. Young Benedict was not impressed by Rome (in the late 5th
Century, it must have been quite corrupt and lax, even as far as study
opportunities went. We are talking about the no longer great Roman Empire,
which had fallen into chaos. We are talking about life, society and Church a
good century after St. Augustine lived). Young Benedict had the faith and he
had a prayer life as well. He had been brought up well in his parents’ home, thoroughly
Catholic. Hence, he wanted no part of what was going on in Rome and so he left
his nanny behind and withdrew to a cave near Subiaco to become a hermit, to pray
constantly and to do penance. In a word, Benedict chose to follow Christ and thus
became perfect like His Lord. In living this hard life in the wilderness far
from civilization and without advertising, he drew to himself others seeking
such a holy life. They asked this holy man to teach them and to rule over them.
Let us go back to our first reading from the Book of Proverbs!
“Then will you understand the fear of
the Lord; the knowledge of God you will find; for the Lord gives wisdom, from
his mouth come knowledge and understanding; He has counsel in store for the
upright, he is the shield of those who walk honestly, guarding the paths of
justice, protecting the way of his pious ones.”
Benedict is the Father of Western Monasticism; he is a
religious, but from his life story, we can glean the essential of what it
should mean for any young person to live the Catholic Faith to its fullness,
whether you are called by God to enter a monastery or a convent or not. From Benedict
we learn and the Church teaches us that life is an all or nothing adventure. Either
you choose God’s path, His wisdom and His truth, or you are lost, as are many
folks are in our world today.
Let us talk about the significance of the Sacrament of Confirmation
which you are about to receive and which us older folks have already received
earlier on in life!
What do we pray for when we ask God to pour out the grace of
His Holy Spirit upon these young people, upon you, in the Sacrament of
Confirmation? What is the upshot of receiving the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and
being strengthened in the great virtues, which make for the fullness of life:
prudence, justice, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord? Well, we are asking God
for a good Catholic life for you now and for as long as you may live. We ask
this for the sake of your eternal salvation, that having known, loved and
served God in this life, you might be happy with Him forever in heaven. For
God’s sake and for the sake of the life of the world, we are making it as an open-ended
request, that the Holy Spirit lead you to Benedict-like holiness, with no
conditions or withholding on our part. We turn you over in this Sacrament to
God’s grace and we say, “Lord, surprise us! Gift our Church and our world with
some great saints!”
The grace of the Holy Spirit transforms us and shakes the
foundations of the people around us, as it did those who were in Jerusalem on
that first Pentecost day. If they are at all attentive to genuine goodness,
they will be shaken. What might God be calling you to do or be? To have an
answer to that question is not any more important in your life than it was in
the life of Saint Benedict. Just follow Benedict’s lead; reject Satan and all
his works, learn your faith, pray constantly, and seek the Lord above all else!
The COVID-19 lock-down business has called much into
question. So much of what we were so sure of, back before March 13, lays in
shambles. We need to leave those things behind which we can now see as
unessential. It is not a matter of being lost or being without but of choosing,
as did the great monk father of the West. Benedict did not set out to be some
kind of revolutionary and challenge his world. Rather he turned his back on Rome,
the great metropolis. He did so in order to seek Christ. You, confirmands, in
the grace of this sacrament, do likewise, find joy for yourself, and give Christ’s
glorious light to the world around you! Receive the Holy Spirit!
Praised be Jesus Christ!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.