Gospel Text: Jn. 14: 15-17.
My dear Girls and Boys,
The Gospel text you have just heard are the words of Jesus spoken to His disciples.
He tells them that His Father will give them His Spirit to be with them forever(cf.Jn.14:16)
and that they will know Him because He is with them, He is in them(cf.Jn.14:16).
He says this to them because they are His disciples, His followers. He continues
to say this to His disciples, His followers in every age and generation. He
says it particularly to you today. And why to you? Because you are His disciples,
His followers just as much as Peter, James and John were when Jesus walked the
roads of Palestine with them. And you became His disciples, His followers through
receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. And you have been fed and nourished with
His Body and Blood in Holy Communion so that you are now healthy and strong
disciples of His. Through your Baptism you became a Child of God and a temple
of the Holy Spirit of God. That is why Jesus can say to you today in regard
to His Holy Spirit: " You know Him, because He is with you, He is in you"(
Jn. 14:17).
Today, however, Jesus wants to strengthen you for the journey ahead, that journey of following Him throughout your life here on earth. He wants to give you all the help necessary to face the challenges of life: the challenges of making right decisions for your life; the challenges of making the right choices in life, of knowing when to choose good and reject evil, of when to say 'yes' and when to say 'no'. Today He confirms you as His disciples and gives you many gifts, gifts of His Spirit. That is why today is called your Confirmation Day. You complete today a journey of initiation into the life of Jesus and His relationship with His Father. Today you are sealed by the power of God's Spirit and you make a major commitment in the following of Jesus.
We talked about this during the recent Confirmation Forum which was held in
Mallow. There were over 140 young people there representing all those who will
be confirmed in this Diocese this year. Were any of you there? Good! It was
a wonderful day we had together with the teachers, the youth workers and the
priests. There was a great atmosphere of joy and expectancy in our gathering.
You young people have an extraordinary enthusiasm for life and you want the
best out of it, don't you? And Jesus wants you to live life to the full also.
Once He said to His disciples: " I have come so that they may have life
and have it to the full" (Jn. 10:10). So, my dear boys and girls, Jesus
wants you to live life to the full from this day forward using all the gifts
He gives you today. Are you ready to be His disciples fully from now on? Are
you prepared to fully committing yourselves to following Jesus in your daily
lives? You know, His invitation to you to follow Him is not based on any special
skills or merits of yours. Rather it is based on His unconditional love for
you and your fidelity as a follower is noted in your response to His love. It
is a love relationship
that makes life worth living.
Now, when you love someone you like to have before you an image or picture of the one you love. Every now and then you take out that picture and you look on it. Have you noticed how lovingly and intensely a mother looks on the face of her child? She doesn't even have to say anything - it is all contained in the look, a look of love. Could you imagine the intensity of love expressed in the look of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as she contemplated the Face of her Child? That's a big word, 'contemplate', isn't it? The dictionary tells us that to contemplate means ' to ponder or consider thoughtfully'. Mary, looking on Jesus and knowing Him as her Son, pondered in her mind and heart on how special He was. Others would come to see and know Him later on and would follow Him as disciples. Others, who would hear about Him, would come to His disciples and say: " We should like to see Jesus"(Jn. 12:22).
You, my dear girls and boys, with the gifts of the Spirit you receive today, will be better able to contemplate the Face of Jesus, in other words, to ponder and consider thoughtfully the Person of Jesus and what He means to your lives. Who better can guide us in this than Mary, His Mother! For centuries she has been guiding His disciples in what we might call ' Her school of contemplation - The Rosary'. Countless Christians have been able to contemplate the mysteries of the life of Jesus by the recitation of the Rosary. The present Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who is very dedicated to the Rosary, in a recent letter to the whole Church on the Rosary says: " To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the Face of Christ(R.V.M.3). In fact, the Pope, in order to encourage people to pray the Rosary in their homes and communities, has declared this year, yes this year of your Confirmation, " The Year of the Rosary". I would therefore like to leave you, on this special day in your lives, with some thoughts, as a treasure to preserve, on the Rosary.
I'm sure you all have Rosary Beads. If not, make it one of your resolutions
today, as confirmed Christians, to get a Rosary.
As the Holy Father says: " Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union
with Mary is a means of learning from her to 'read' Christ, to discover and
to understand His message"( R.V.M. 14). Those scenes of the Rosary which
the Pope refers to are traditionally known as the 'Mysteries of the Rosary'
and we have been used to having fifteen of them, divided into three groups covering
three major periods in the life of Christ: the Joyful Mysteries( His infant
years); the Sorrowful Mysteries( His Passion and Death); and the Glorious Mysteries(
His Resurrection and Glory in Heaven). But have you ever noticed that we have
not got Mysteries which cover the public life of Christ? If we are, as the Holy
Father has asked, to contemplate the Face of Christ we must see Him also in
His public life, as did His disciples. And so, in this Year of the Rosary, the
Holy Father has added an extra five Mysteries which he has called 'The Mysteries
of Light' which cover some of the major events of the life of Jesus, who tells
us: "As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world"(Jn.9:5).
So from now on the Rosary consists in contemplating twenty Mysteries in the
life of Christ. As you know, using your Rosary Beads, your recite an 'Our Father'
at the beginning of each decade and then ten times the 'Hail Mary', concluding
the decade with the 'Glory be to the Father...'. It is a prayer which, while
contemplating the events of the life of Jesus, turns first to the Father in
heaven and then to Mary, putting at the heart of that beautiful Marian prayer
the name of Jesus, and then concluding with a prayer of praise and glory to
the Holy Trinity.
The Holy Father has identified the Rosary particularly as a Prayer for Peace
and for the Family. At this particular time, when the peace of the world is
threatened, he asks that the Rosary be offered for the cause of peace in the
world. These are his words:
" The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in
the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the One who is 'our peace'(
Eph. 2:14 - R.V.M.40). In the present world crisis he has been very explicit:
" In every Marian shrine an ardent prayer for peace will be raised to heaven
with the prayer of the Rosary. I trust that also in parishes and families the
Rosary will be prayed for this great cause on which the good of all depends"(
Angelus Message: 23rd February 2003).
" As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is also, and always has been, a prayer of and for the family. At one time this prayer was particularly dear to Christian families and it certainly brought them closer together. It is important not to lose this precious inheritance. We need to return to the practice of family prayer and prayer for families, continuing to use the Rosary"(R.V.M.41). Let us always remember that saying, which is so true: " The family that prays together stays together".
And so, my dear girls and boys, as you are empowered today by the Holy Spirit of God in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, I send you out, in this Year of the Rosary, to be heralds of that great Marian prayer, The Rosary. In order to help you to pray the Rosary and to promote it in your homes, I am giving each one of you a copy of this beautiful booklet: The Rosary of Pope John Paul II: The 20 Mysteries.Using it you will learn how best to recite the Rosary. I ask you to use it and to share it so that the recitation of the Rosary may increase your devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, and may bring peace to our world and harmony to our families. I appeal especially to you, Parents, God-Parents and Sponsors to join with these your children in bringing back into your homes and your lives the Person of Mary so that through devotion to Her and to the Rosary your families may become truly Christian and avail of the benefits of Her intercession with Her Son, Jesus. I am giving a copy of this Booklet to the teachers who have prepared you for your Confirmation. I ask that they will guide you in the use of this Booklet, enable you to fulfill your role as Heralds of the Rosary so that, when you have mastered the task, you may bring this Booklet into your homes and share it with your Parents, your Grandparents and your brothers and sisters. I am also giving a copy of this Booklet to the Priests of your parish because the Holy Father wishes that this beautiful praye of the Rosary be recited and loved in the Parish Family. May it be recited publicly in every Parish and may each Priest dedicate himself to the promotion of this unique Marian Prayer.
Each year I give those being confirmed a Motto, to remind them of the message I gave them on their Confirmation Day. This year I want you, boys and girls, always to remember that, as disciples of Jesus and strengthened with the power of His Spirit, you are called to look on the Face of Jesus through the eyes of His Mother, Mary. This is what our Holy Father, the Pope, has been doing all his life and his devotion to the Mother of God has been total and has led him more closely every day to Jesus. This can happen with you. Please trust me. Please believe me. Please try it and you will not be disappointed. And so I could not wish more for you than what has been the guiding light of Pope John Paul II and summed up in his personal Motto:" TOTUS TUUS - ALL YOURS". Remember to greet Mary always with these words: " I am all yours" and she will bring you always and eventually face to face with Her Son, Jesus.
*********************************************************************************