A Letter From Our Rector: Confirmation — A New Beginning And A Spiritual Milestone

Dear Parishioners,

You may remember that because of the pandemic, the First Communion celebrations scheduled for two Masses on a weekend in the spring were changed to five special private Masses on weekends in September. Our Confirmation schedule has had a similar change.

Confirmation for our eighthgrade students in our school and CCD will be a blitzkrieg. Bishop John will have private Confirmation Masses with our school students, their sponsors, and families in the evenings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Feb. 1-3, and with CCD students, sponsors, and families in the early afternoon on Saturday, Feb. 6.

Our usual approach is to have Confirmation as one large celebration at a Saturday 5 p.m. Mass. But this school year, our Confirmation schedule is one more victim of the pandemic’s onslaught on our lives.

We are very appreciative of the adaptations all are doing — the students, their families, their sponsors, their catechists, our music ministers, and especially Bishop John. But one mysterious and gracious constant in all this schedule juggling is the Holy Spirit.

During these months of the pandemic, we have certainly needed to draw from the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom has guided us as we have sought to make good decisions to keep others and ourselves safe.

Understanding has been necessary as we have faced the reality of the serious nature of the Coronavirus and the vulnerability that we all have.

Knowledge and the application of that knowledge by pharmaceutical scientists have led to the development of vaccines.

Courage has been manifested by the many healthcare workers who have extended themselves beyond their job descriptions.

Prudence has been the gift used by those who patiently wait for the time when it will be safe to be in a large-group gathering.

Reverence has been at the heart of our trust in God, but also our acknowledgment of the sacredness and dignity of every person.

And wonder leads us to be awestruck by the creativity and resilience of the human spirit as we have found new ways to not only cope but to live and give with joy during this challenging and dreadful time.

Our youth will be receiving these Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit as they are confirmed. The Holy Spirit will stay with them and help them to draw from these gifts and other attitudinal gifts throughout their lives. Even though they will be graduating from grade school this year, they are not graduating from their religious formation. Confirmation is a spiritual milestone, not an ending — in many ways, it is a new beginning, an eye-opening Sacrament by which God’s Grace invites our youth to trust and draw from the Gifts of the Holy Spirit all through their lives in the diverse and unpredictable challenges that will inevitably emerge. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit’s Gifts conferred at Confirmation alert each person receiving this Sacrament to embrace the joy of giving and to live out their Christianity as a giver!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Paul Prabell, Rector