Eighty-one adults confirmed, reflecting growing faith across the Diocese

Laura Keener

Editor

The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was filled to near capacity on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, as 81 adults received the sacrament of Confirmation. These confirmandi came from 23 parishes throughout the Diocese. Due to the large number — 22 more than last year and 46 more than the five-year average — Bishop John Iffert, Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys and Father Ryan Maher, rector, administered the sacrament.

Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Catholic Church. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, lifting their fears and empowering them with the gifts of the Holy Spirit — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God — sending them out to preach the Good News of Christ.

“When the Holy Spirit filled their (the apostles’) lives, they were given a communion with God’s divine gift,” said Bishop Iffert in his homily. “They were given more than just a purpose or a reason. God gave them a future and sent them out into the world to establish a Christian era. In their future, God would work in them deeds that they had never expected possible.”

During the conferring of the sacrament of confirmation, Bishop Iffert said, the confirmandi present today would receive that same Holy Spirit, that same grace, and through them that same hope for the world.

That Holy Spirit, he said, “was seminal seed for grace in the world,” overcoming “a culture of brutality and darkness. Today you received that same gift. God gives you not only a few numerable gifts, but God gives you the grace of himself dwelling within you, so that you might become under Christ. God gives to you today, and through you to all of us, a future in which we can place our hope.”

Hope, Bishop Iffert said, is not vague or wishy-washy. “Hope is the knowledge and confidence that God is working for our salvation … where we are gathered together in his wisdom and his love … Embrace that gift and share with us hope in Jesus Christ.”