Sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit...
Fourteen years ago today I went to Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Stoughton. I remember it was the Easter Season, and I was so happy to be able to sing "Alleluia" again. This Mass, however, wasn't just any other Mass...something BIG was going to be happening after the homily...something that would change my life. I was to be receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I had been taught in Religious Education classes that my choosing to be confirmed was my "coming of age" in the Church, that now I would be an adult in the faith and responsible for helping to pass it on. As an active member of the Life Teen peer group, I didn't see a challenge in that...I was already talking about the faith to the freshmen and sophomores at Life Teen, and my sister, who was in 6th grade at the time, was looking forward to the day when she could be involved in Life Teen.
I was asked to be one of the lectors at the Mass. I don't remember if I did the first or the second reading, but I remember being nervous to read in front of a bunch of my classmates who I knew didn't want to be there. I read frequently at Life Teen Mass, but I was hardly ever nervous because we had a community there...the other teens there (usually) always wanted to be there, so there was nothing to be nervous about. I may have stumbled a couple times during the reading as I was anxiously anticipating the moment later in the ceremony...The music at the Mass was beautiful...but I was getting antsy...the Gospel was proclaimed...the Bishop gave his homily and then asked the Confirmandi to renew our baptismal promises.
Then...came the moment i had been waiting for! Pew by pew we walked toward His Excellency Bishop Richard Malone (then auxiliary Bishop of Boston, now Bishop of Buffalo), it was soon my turn...I walked up with my sponsor, my Aunt Norine, behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder and presented me to the Bishop...He then traced a cross on my forehead with chrism oil and said "Richard, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." YES!!!! I WAS CONFIRMED...
But walking away I thought..."wait, that's it?" Right after it happened I didn't feel any different...I didn't look any different...and days, weeks maybe even months later it didn't seem to me that I acted much differently. Yet, I was changed. By being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit (first given to me at Baptism), I was strengthened to live a Christian life. I was also given the grace to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ (which, when I was 16 I thought was already pretty deep...if I only knew then how surface level I was!). I remember years later, in college, hearing a priest tell a group of high schoolers that sometimes it takes years until you see the fruits of the Sacrament of Confirmation, but to trust that they are there, and to pray for God to help you discover them. I took those words to heart, and remember praying at times for God to increase in me the gifts of the Spirit, or to help me see where I have been exercising these gifts in my life. It did take time, and patience, but I slowly began to see the effects of my confirmation take root.
For my confirmation name, as you've read above, I chose the name "Richard". Back then, I really wasn't sure why. Growing up I had a close friend name Richard, and one day we joked about taking each other's names as our confirmation names. I didn't have to write an essay on why I chose the name I did, or do any research into saints before I arrived at the name I chose. So, I said to myself "why not chose Richard. I like that name...I'm sure there's a St. Richard"...and I looked up the etymology of the name..."The Germanic first or given name Richard derives from German, French, and English "ric" (ruler, leader, king) and "hard" (strong, brave), and it therefore means "powerful leader"...I was heavily involved in Student Council, Peer Leadership, the Life Teen Peer Group, Yearbook etc...so I thought of myself as a powerful leader..so why not? Ok...I went with it!
However, as I continued to grow in my relationship with Christ in college and in the 4 years after college before entering seminary, I often wished that I could go back and pick the name of a Saint whose life really resonated with me. Even in my first year of pre-theology, I often "regretted" choosing the name Richard. Yet, it's often said that our patron saints choose us, we don't choose them. I learned this to be true while in the beginning of my second year of pre-theology. One of my professors at St. John's alternated the beginning of his class with 2 different prayers---one I recognized as a prayer written by St. Thomas Aquinas, but the other one I didn't really know, but I really liked it. It went like this:
Father always ended that by invoking the intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas, so I naturally assumed that he also penned that prayer. One day, curiosity finally got the best of me and I asked him who the prayer is attributed to...and his answer: St. Richard of Chichester! Finally, after almost 10 years confirmed, I discovered who my confirmation patron was!!! The name I thought I chose to honor a childhood friend and because it described my high school self was finally revealed to me to be a 13th Century English Bishop. I'm still currently growing in devotion to my patron, but, as the priest said many years ago, sometimes to see the effects of Confirmation take years, likewise to see how my patron is looking out for me may also take time.
Fourteen years ago today as I was being confirmed, I didn't think that I'd ever fall so in love with Jesus Christ that I would leave all to follow Him. I had always dreamed of being a teacher, and I wasn't planning on deviating from that path. In the few years following my confirmation, I didn't know that by praying to see the gifts go the Holy Spirit at work in my life that it would eventually lead me to discerning a priestly vocation. (Remember, at this time I hadn't yet really ever thought of the priesthood. The first time I remember the idea of a vocation to the priesthood crossing my mind was 3 months later when I attended World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Canada with St. Pope John Paul II as part of the group from Stoughton Life Teen). I certainly didn't think I'd ever end up in a seminary in Rome at the heart of the Universal Church, a little under 6 months, God willing, from being ordained a Deacon at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica. Isn't God so good?
Praised be Jesus Christ...
kpl
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I had been taught in Religious Education classes that my choosing to be confirmed was my "coming of age" in the Church, that now I would be an adult in the faith and responsible for helping to pass it on. As an active member of the Life Teen peer group, I didn't see a challenge in that...I was already talking about the faith to the freshmen and sophomores at Life Teen, and my sister, who was in 6th grade at the time, was looking forward to the day when she could be involved in Life Teen.
I was asked to be one of the lectors at the Mass. I don't remember if I did the first or the second reading, but I remember being nervous to read in front of a bunch of my classmates who I knew didn't want to be there. I read frequently at Life Teen Mass, but I was hardly ever nervous because we had a community there...the other teens there (usually) always wanted to be there, so there was nothing to be nervous about. I may have stumbled a couple times during the reading as I was anxiously anticipating the moment later in the ceremony...The music at the Mass was beautiful...but I was getting antsy...the Gospel was proclaimed...the Bishop gave his homily and then asked the Confirmandi to renew our baptismal promises.
Then...came the moment i had been waiting for! Pew by pew we walked toward His Excellency Bishop Richard Malone (then auxiliary Bishop of Boston, now Bishop of Buffalo), it was soon my turn...I walked up with my sponsor, my Aunt Norine, behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder and presented me to the Bishop...He then traced a cross on my forehead with chrism oil and said "Richard, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." YES!!!! I WAS CONFIRMED...
But walking away I thought..."wait, that's it?" Right after it happened I didn't feel any different...I didn't look any different...and days, weeks maybe even months later it didn't seem to me that I acted much differently. Yet, I was changed. By being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit (first given to me at Baptism), I was strengthened to live a Christian life. I was also given the grace to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ (which, when I was 16 I thought was already pretty deep...if I only knew then how surface level I was!). I remember years later, in college, hearing a priest tell a group of high schoolers that sometimes it takes years until you see the fruits of the Sacrament of Confirmation, but to trust that they are there, and to pray for God to help you discover them. I took those words to heart, and remember praying at times for God to increase in me the gifts of the Spirit, or to help me see where I have been exercising these gifts in my life. It did take time, and patience, but I slowly began to see the effects of my confirmation take root.
For my confirmation name, as you've read above, I chose the name "Richard". Back then, I really wasn't sure why. Growing up I had a close friend name Richard, and one day we joked about taking each other's names as our confirmation names. I didn't have to write an essay on why I chose the name I did, or do any research into saints before I arrived at the name I chose. So, I said to myself "why not chose Richard. I like that name...I'm sure there's a St. Richard"...and I looked up the etymology of the name..."The Germanic first or given name Richard derives from German, French, and English "ric" (ruler, leader, king) and "hard" (strong, brave), and it therefore means "powerful leader"...I was heavily involved in Student Council, Peer Leadership, the Life Teen Peer Group, Yearbook etc...so I thought of myself as a powerful leader..so why not? Ok...I went with it!
However, as I continued to grow in my relationship with Christ in college and in the 4 years after college before entering seminary, I often wished that I could go back and pick the name of a Saint whose life really resonated with me. Even in my first year of pre-theology, I often "regretted" choosing the name Richard. Yet, it's often said that our patron saints choose us, we don't choose them. I learned this to be true while in the beginning of my second year of pre-theology. One of my professors at St. John's alternated the beginning of his class with 2 different prayers---one I recognized as a prayer written by St. Thomas Aquinas, but the other one I didn't really know, but I really liked it. It went like this:
Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits thou hast given me,
for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother,
may I know thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly, day by day.
Amen.
for all the benefits thou hast given me,
for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother,
may I know thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly, day by day.
Amen.
Fourteen years ago today as I was being confirmed, I didn't think that I'd ever fall so in love with Jesus Christ that I would leave all to follow Him. I had always dreamed of being a teacher, and I wasn't planning on deviating from that path. In the few years following my confirmation, I didn't know that by praying to see the gifts go the Holy Spirit at work in my life that it would eventually lead me to discerning a priestly vocation. (Remember, at this time I hadn't yet really ever thought of the priesthood. The first time I remember the idea of a vocation to the priesthood crossing my mind was 3 months later when I attended World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Canada with St. Pope John Paul II as part of the group from Stoughton Life Teen). I certainly didn't think I'd ever end up in a seminary in Rome at the heart of the Universal Church, a little under 6 months, God willing, from being ordained a Deacon at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica. Isn't God so good?
Praised be Jesus Christ...
kpl
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