In words from the preface of this Mass,
Today you sent your Holy Spirit…
Today we celebrate the great beginning of your Church
The Holy Spirit isn’t confined to the Church,
The Holy Spirit isn’t only at work when we know about it
but the Church is the place where the Holy Spirit
is recognised, acknowledged,
expected and
today in particular
celebrated as our driving force.
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with us
Luke at the start of the Acts, in our first reading today,
put this in a dramatic, action packed way
A Great wind blows. Something like fire appeared,
Symbols, drawn for the Old Testament, for the presence of God
Intangible, yet powerful
Symbols of the effect of God’s presence on these people
Wind, propelled them,
drove them on round the whole of the Mediterranean coast
Tongues of fire, settled on their heads, touched them;
They spoke with fire round the round the whole of the Mediterranean coast;
they set their hearers hearts aflame.
Though the signs are dramatic,
Luke’s real message is that the presence of God,
the Holy Spirit,
changed the disciples, making them bold and confident.
John, in today’s gospel and in other place, puts this is a much gentler, more contemplative way.
I shall ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate
To be with you forever
…
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
Remind you of all I have said to you
Deep down, the same reality is described:
that we have the transforming presence of God
in our hearts and minds
and that we are to know and acknowledge this.
The presence of God in our hearts, the Holy Spirit,
is celebrated in a special sacrament, Confirmation,
which is part of becoming a full member of the Church,
along with being Baptised and receiving Communion.
It is one of our three sacrament so initiation.
Confirmation is an anointing
with a perfumed oil blessed by the bishop,
called chrism,
and that anointing is done
by a laying on of hands on the head
just as, at the first Pentecost,
the tongues of fire
separated and came to rest on the head of each of them.
And the anointing is with the words
Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Words of great depth;
Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
‘sealed here means marked with a seal, (it doesn’t mean ‘closed’)
Letters were marked with the seal of the sender
so that there was no doubt where they came from
Documents are marked with a seal
to show authenticity and hence authority.
We are authenticated by,
we derive authority from
the Holy Spirit,
that is, directly from God.
Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This presence of the Holy Spirit is a gift.
In confirmation, before the anointing,
the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are prayed for:
Understanding and wisdom,
The gifts of reflection.
Given, most especially,
so that we may appreciate God’s revelation of himself in Jesus,
to help us make sense of scripture, and homilies, and Christian teaching
Right judgement and courage
The gifts of action
So that we ‘read the world’ correctly to know what we should do, and then to do it.
Knowledge (which isn’t ‘of facts’, but ‘of God’)
reverence,
and awe and wonder in the presence of the Lord.
The gifts of prayer and contemplation.
This presence of God in our hearts, the gift of the Holy Spirit,
opens us up to Jesus’ words and actions,
shows how they connect with our own lives,
draws us into the life of God
This presence is the wellspring of Christian life.
We don’t receive the gift of the Holy Spirit because we deserve it.
This is very important,
and easy to say,
but it can be very hard to believe;
One of the biggest obstacles to being tuned in to the Holy Spirit,
is the assumption that we are not good enough,
not saying enough prayers,
not holy enough,
for God to bother dealing with us directly.
But the Holy Spirit is a gift; we don’t earn it; indeed we could not.
Every time a word or action of Jesus strikes home, the Holy Spirit is in action
Every time we utter a prayer, the Holy Spirit is in action
Every time we are moved by another person’s good action, the Holy Spirit is in action
Every time we feel compassion, the Holy Spirit is in action.
Today we are called to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in ourselves individually
and in St William’s.
We are to be people who know we have received this gift
and are truly thankful for it;
That is what we celebrate today.
In October fifty-one of our young people are to be confirmed.
Just take a moment to reflect on that:
Fifty-one; forty-five families in which the Spirit is moving in this special way, here, now.
The wind of the Spirit blows on down the centuries.
Last Sunday, we had twenty-nine children from twenty-six families making their first Holy Communion.
Again, the Spirit is blowing.
As a third example,
those who come to 9.30 Mass will have seen sometimes approaching 100 children,
going out for Children’s liturgy.
More evidence of the Spirit blowing through families.
Together, these three examples involve about thirty adult volunteers
leading activities,
witnessing to their faith on our behalf,
on behalf of our parish.
In them, we see God’s Spirit at work,
in direct continuity with Pentecost,
and we give thanks for the gift of the Spirit.
This day, as Eastertide Ends,
my line at the end of Mass changes to
Go in the peace, alleluia, alleluia,
and the response is
Thanks be to God alleluia, alleluia.
We are all sent out
filled with the Holy Spirit,
wonderfully graced,
wonderfully gifted,
to be Christ’s presence in the world.
This is a privilege
A privilege for which we praise God.
So, when it comes,
let our hearts sing out with a true, wholehearted, alleluia.