My first homily, from a confirmation mass for 12 high school students I taught. Given Pentecost Sunday, May 19th, 2024, St. Mary of the Lakes Church, Medford, NJ, 12:00 mass. Video is here.
Readings: Acts 2:1-11, 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13, Jn 20:19-23
In ancient myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity.
In today’s first reading from Acts of the Apostles, we heard about tongues of fire descending upon the apostles on Pentecost. They didn’t need to steal it, and they didn’t earn it. It was a free gift from the one True God, who cast down the false gods of the world. That fire was the Holy Spirit, which we receive in the sacrament of confirmation, and which 12 young people will be receiving today.
The fire of Prometheus threatened the false gods because it gave humanity power.
But the flame of the Holy Spirit–threatens them even more.
And I don’t mean just the ancient gods of myth and legend, but all the modern ones that distract us from the true God. The gods of worldly power, money, lust, fame, and technology are even more tempting than Zeus or Baal because people choose to be enslaved by them.
We’ve chosen another path. We've chosen the real fire, and it will make all the difference. If we let the sacrament work in us, and the Holy Spirit shape us, we will, in the words of Saint Catherine of Siena, “set the world on fire.”
In our reading today, the Holy Spirit gives the apostles the gift of tongues, so they can be understood in every language. This is a call to go out into the world and draw all peoples of all nations into the church, into the family of God, into the love of Christ. Our tongues are set loose to share the Good News.
In ancient Jerusalem, where this scene took place, a fire burnt in the temple as a sign that God was present. That temple was destroyed not long after the death of Christ, and the flame extinguished.
And yet a light still burns as a sign of God’s presence. There, in that red lamp, a flame burns whenever the Blessed Sacrament is present in the tabernacle. That’s because Jesus, true God and true man, is really and truly present in that Eucharist.
And a light burns in you as well, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit given in baptism and strengthened in confirmation.
Under the old covenant, God was the fire that burned. Fire was a sign of his holiness and power. Moses couldn’t even approach the burning bush without removing his sandals. But in the new covenant, this fire comes to rest in each of us. It began on the first Pentecost, and continues, down through time and space, to this building and this moment–and each one of us.
That's what Jesus did for us, he allowed the spirit to enter the world and dwell in each one of us as the new temple. He breathes that Spirit into us, as he did to the apostles in today’s Gospel. That means each of us is called to holiness. Each is called to be led by the Spirit out into the world renew the face of the earth. And the spirit within us is stronger than the spirit of the world.
We do this with our own unique gifts, as Paul describes today in his First Letter to the Corinthians. Each of us is utterly unrepeatable, and brings something special into the world. Different spiritual gifts, different forms of service, different ways of working—all parts of the body of Christ, baptized into a new creation, and confirmed into a new life.
That is what Christians were called to on Pentecost, and the call continues.
For those of us who already made our confirmations, that flame is within us already, and we should ask if we’re doing all we can to tend it and keep it so that it may grow.
For those making their confirmation today, that fire is about to be lit. The question right now is–what do we do next? How do we keep that fire from going out? Several years after my own confirmation, mine almost disappeared: like man younger people, I stopped practicing my faith.
And yesterday? Bishop O’Connell ordained me to the permanent diaconate. See, that flame in me–never went out. It flickered down to almost nothing, but God breathed on those embers and brought them back to life, and called me to be a servant of that fire.
I’ve chosen to serve, because, in the end, we all do serve someone or something. We’re all drawn to these strange gods, but what are we looking for out there, that we're not already bearing within us?
Because we are bearers of the Holy Spirit, of eternal life, of glory. We are flame.
That’s why the false gods fear us. Because of course they’re not gods at all. Our God loves us. He mourns that, in the Garden of Eden and ever since, we chose to turn away from him. But he wants us back. He is always calling us back, if we only take time to listen for his voice.
And in a very real sense, he gives us a choice of fires. We have the fires which mankind, in our sinfulness, create. Wars, violence, hatred, division, lies, exploitation, tyranny. Destroying fires.
And we have the fire of Pentecost. Of confirmation. Of the Holy Spirit. A burning, passionate flame of love for our Lord, Who is love.
And if we live in him, and allow the Spirit to ignite our love, we can be part of healing a broken world–if only for a moment. If only to the length of your arm, as far as it takes to lift up the fallen. Or as far as the sound of your voice, as your tongue of fire encourages the downtrodden, the depressed, the anxious, and the people who yearn for meaning beyond what this world can offer.
There is truth. There is goodness. There is beauty. And all of them are gifts given to us when Lord returned to the father and left the Holy Spirit here with us. Among us. And in us.
God bless, and may the peace of Christ be with you always.