Catholic Men Living the gifts of Pentecost

Jun 6, 2011

This week the Church concludes the Easter season with the celebration of Pentecost. This coming Sunday serves as a reminder of the original and ongoing gift of Pentecost: the Holy Spirit living, acting in, and with his Church. It also presents a special opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to living a life that reflects the sacramental gifts of Pentecost: the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive through Confirmation.

The first reading on Pentecost Sunday recounts the momentous event. According to St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, 50 days after the Resurrection a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit came upon the community of believers. A strong, driving wind filled the meeting place, where tongues of fire appeared, parted, and rested above each individual. The Holy Spirit allowed them to speak and understand one another in their respective languages. Astounded and bewildered, the assembled believers questioned one another about what had just happened (Acts 2:1-12).

What did it mean, both then and now? How do we express and live out the reality of Pentecost in our families?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Pentecost signaled a specific moment in history when Christ once again fulfilled his promise to fill his followers with the gift of the Holy Spirit (1287). This original gift of Pentecost ignited a timid apostolic community to go forth and boldly proclaim and defend the faith in word and deed. Pentecost also began “the age of the Church,” wherein Christ communicates “the fruits of Christ’s Paschal mystery” through the celebration of the sacraments (1076). 

Consequently, though we may not see “tongues of fire,” the divine light of Pentecost still blazes strongly through Confirmation, the sacrament which pours out and refines gifts of the Holy Spirit we received at Baptism. During the Liturgy of Confirmation, the bishop extends his hands over the believers gathered and prays:

“Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide.
Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence.
Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.”

The bishop then anoints the foreheads of confirmands with chrism, saying, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The seal itself “marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service forever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial” (1296).

Christians have long recognized Confirmation as the sacrament of “maturity.” Today, many associate “maturity” with an individual also becoming an “adult” in the Church. Sadly, though, such logic has led some Catholics to forget, or even worse, willingly reject the sacramental gifts of Pentecost bestowed at Confirmation. How many young Christian “adults” have stopped going to Mass after Confirmation, arguing that as an “adult” they can now make their own decision? St. Thomas Aquinas warned how “age of body does not determine age of soul.” We do well always to remember and heed such saintly wisdom, and make sure our children are mature not just in body but in knowledge and practice of the faith.

The sacrament of Confirmation is our Pentecost, the moment we are sealed with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Let these sacramental gifts enter and dwell in the upper room of our souls. Pledge this Pentecost and every Sunday to share with the world and your family what you received from the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. Like the Apostles of the past, proclaim, spread, and defend the faith both in your words and deeds.