Homily â Pentecost Sunday 2013 (C) - the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Homily â Pentecost Sunday 2013 (C) - the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Homily â Pentecost Sunday 2013 (C) - the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
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<strong>Homily</strong> – <strong>Pentecost</strong> <strong>Sunday</strong> <strong>2013</strong> (C)<br />
w. Celebration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Confirmation for Adults i<br />
Most Reverend José H. Gomez<br />
Archbishop <strong>of</strong> <strong>Los</strong> <strong>Angeles</strong><br />
Ca<strong>the</strong>dral <strong>of</strong> Our Lady <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Angels<br />
May 19, <strong>2013</strong><br />
My bro<strong>the</strong>rs and sisters in Christ:<br />
Today’s a very special day because we celebrate <strong>the</strong> solemnity <strong>of</strong> <strong>Pentecost</strong> and <strong>the</strong><br />
Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Confirmation. It is a very special day for each one <strong>of</strong> you receiving <strong>the</strong><br />
Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Confirmation and for your sponsors, your family and our Ca<strong>the</strong>dral<br />
parish. So it is indeed a beautiful moment in <strong>the</strong> life <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Church.<br />
Today, we celebrate when our Catholic Church was born, when she received <strong>the</strong><br />
promise <strong>of</strong> his Holy Spirit!<br />
So this morning, as we get ready to celebrate <strong>the</strong> beautiful Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Confirmation,<br />
we want to ask our heavenly Fa<strong>the</strong>r to renew <strong>the</strong> gifts <strong>of</strong> his Holy Spirit in each <strong>of</strong> us<br />
and in our whole Church. We want to ask Jesus to renew us with <strong>the</strong> fire <strong>of</strong> his divine<br />
love.<br />
Jesus once said that he came to cast fire on earth. ii And that fire was started at <strong>the</strong> first<br />
<strong>Pentecost</strong>.<br />
As we hear in our first reading today, <strong>the</strong> Spirit came down upon <strong>the</strong> Blessed Virgin<br />
Mary and <strong>the</strong> apostles in tongues <strong>of</strong> fire. And <strong>the</strong>y all began proclaiming — in every<br />
language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earth — <strong>the</strong> mighty works <strong>of</strong> God.<br />
<strong>Pentecost</strong> reveals <strong>the</strong> universal mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Church. As I’m sure you noticed, on <strong>the</strong><br />
first <strong>Pentecost</strong> <strong>the</strong>re were people ga<strong>the</strong>red from every nation under heaven. And<br />
everyone that was <strong>the</strong>re that day heard <strong>the</strong> apostles’ preaching in his native language.<br />
That’s a sign <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Church’s mission. That’s what “Catholic” means. It means<br />
universal, global. We are called to proclaim <strong>the</strong> Gospel to every nation. We are called<br />
to help God, to work with God. To help him create — from out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world’s many<br />
peoples — one single family <strong>of</strong> God.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> Church’s mission, my dear bro<strong>the</strong>rs and sisters, is our mission. The fire that<br />
started at <strong>Pentecost</strong> is meant to keep burning in us! We are called to continue <strong>the</strong> work<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Pentecost</strong> in our society. We are called to proclaim <strong>the</strong> mighty works <strong>of</strong> God — his
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salvation and <strong>the</strong> good news — to every one we meet. Just as Mary and <strong>the</strong> apostles did<br />
at <strong>the</strong> first <strong>Pentecost</strong>.<br />
And this has a special meaning for each one <strong>of</strong> you, who are receiving <strong>the</strong> Sacrament <strong>of</strong><br />
Confirmation today. Because Confirmation is <strong>the</strong> sacrament <strong>of</strong> Christian mission. We<br />
can say, that confirmation makes us apostles <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> second reading <strong>of</strong> today’s Mass, we heard <strong>the</strong> beautiful words <strong>of</strong> St. Paul about<br />
<strong>the</strong> spiritual gifts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit. We heard him say:<br />
To each individual that manifestation is given for some benefit.<br />
This is what Confirmation does! The Spirit is given to you today for some benefit. Not<br />
just for ourselves but also is call to each one <strong>of</strong> us that bring that benefit that we have<br />
received to <strong>the</strong> people around us. So God has a mission for you. Today you a receive<br />
<strong>the</strong> gifts <strong>of</strong> his Holy Spirit so that you can actively participate in <strong>the</strong> mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Church. The mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>Pentecost</strong>.<br />
And for all <strong>of</strong> us here this morning — we are called to renew <strong>the</strong>se spiritual gifts that<br />
we received in our Baptism and Confirmation. All <strong>of</strong> us received his Spirit for some<br />
benefit. He gives to each one <strong>of</strong> us a personal calling, a specific mission.<br />
And we hear that today in our passage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gospel. Because <strong>the</strong> words that Jesus<br />
speaks to his apostles are also spoken to each <strong>of</strong> us: “As <strong>the</strong> Fa<strong>the</strong>r has sent me, so I<br />
send you.”<br />
Jesus is sending us out into <strong>the</strong> world. He is sending us out into our homes, <strong>the</strong> places<br />
where we work, our neighborhoods. Everywhere. He wants us to redeem this world —<br />
one heart at a time. He wants us to help our loved ones and <strong>the</strong> people we meet every<br />
day. He wants us to help <strong>the</strong>m go to heaven. He wants us to discover to <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> life<br />
and teachings <strong>of</strong> our Lord Jesus Christ, his person. He wants us to help people have a<br />
personal encounter with Jesus Christ, <strong>the</strong> same encounter that we have experienced in<br />
our own lives.<br />
Jesus sends us out as messengers <strong>of</strong> his peace and forgiveness. He sends us to tell<br />
everyone <strong>the</strong> good news <strong>of</strong> God’s mercy and love. We need to tell <strong>the</strong>m that in Jesus,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y can know salvation through <strong>the</strong> forgiveness <strong>of</strong> sins.<br />
My dear bro<strong>the</strong>rs and sisters, if <strong>the</strong>re is a message that our world needs, it is <strong>the</strong><br />
message <strong>of</strong> forgiveness. So many <strong>of</strong> our bro<strong>the</strong>rs and sisters drift away from God. We<br />
need to help <strong>the</strong>m come back home. We need to reconcile <strong>the</strong>m with God and with his<br />
Church.<br />
That’s why, as we hear in our Gospel today, <strong>the</strong> gift <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spirit to <strong>the</strong> apostles includes<br />
to power to forgive sins in <strong>the</strong> Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Reconciliation. Whose sins you forgive,<br />
Jesus tells <strong>the</strong> apostles, are forgiven <strong>the</strong>m!
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This is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most beautiful promises in all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gospel. So we need, my bro<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
and sisters, to try to be people <strong>of</strong> peace and reconciliation. In our words and deeds, we<br />
need to be always trying to open <strong>the</strong> doors <strong>of</strong> heaven to everyone. We need to invite<br />
people back to Church, back to <strong>the</strong> Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Reconciliation. Back to us for<br />
forgiveness and receive forgiveness from God.<br />
This is our beautiful <strong>Pentecost</strong> mission.<br />
And to carry out this mission, we need to have a deeper, more personal relationship<br />
with <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit. That what today is so special for each one <strong>of</strong> you, because you are<br />
receiving <strong>the</strong> Seven Gifts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit. Wisdom, knowledge, good judgement,<br />
each one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m is going to help you to become good apostles <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ.<br />
We all need to intesnify our relationship with <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit, cause it’s always talking<br />
to us. We need to listen and we need to follow <strong>the</strong> inspirations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit, as we<br />
all know.<br />
So, my dear bro<strong>the</strong>rs and sisters, let us try to really live <strong>Pentecost</strong> like those first<br />
apostles did. They went out and started teaching <strong>the</strong> Gospels, everything was clear for<br />
<strong>the</strong>m. They went all over <strong>the</strong> world, that’s what we are called to do too.<br />
Let us try to live by <strong>the</strong> Spirit and follow <strong>the</strong> Spirit. Let us try to look for new ways to<br />
share <strong>the</strong> fruits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spirit with people around us — love, joy and peace; patience,<br />
kindness and generosity; faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The beautiful fruits <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit that you are also receving today in a special way.<br />
So we want all <strong>of</strong> you to always be very kind and patient with everybody else. But we<br />
do need to live by those gifts and fruits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit, that’s what we are called to<br />
do.<br />
So let’s pray as <strong>the</strong> apostles did, with his mo<strong>the</strong>r Mary, she was <strong>the</strong>re on <strong>Pentecost</strong>.<br />
Mary, Our Blessed Mo<strong>the</strong>r, she’s here always, but especially today for each one <strong>of</strong> you<br />
receiving <strong>the</strong> Sacrament <strong>of</strong> Confirmation.<br />
Let us ask her for her intercession, that <strong>the</strong>re will be a new <strong>Pentecost</strong> in our days. So<br />
that <strong>the</strong> fire <strong>of</strong> love in our hearts may inspire o<strong>the</strong>rs — until <strong>the</strong> whole world is on fire<br />
with <strong>the</strong> love <strong>of</strong> God.<br />
Our Lady <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Angels, Spouse <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit, pray for us.<br />
i Readings: Acts 2:1–11; Ps. 104:1, 24, 29–31, 34; 1 Cor. 12:3b–7, 12–13; John 20:19–23.<br />
ii Luke 12:39.