(Pentecost Sunday, 1997. This homily was given on May 18, 1997 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Acts 1 and 2; Isaiah 11: 1-9.)

"The first Confirmation and what it means for us today."

In my interviews with this year’s Confirmation candidates I asked them several questions. One of those questions was the following: "When was the first Confirmation and where do we find the story of this event in the Bible?" Sadly, some of them did not know the answer. Do you? You should, if you arrived on time for Mass and haven’t been asleep for the last ten minutes. The first Confirmation occurred on the day of Pentecost, and the story of that event is preserved for us in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. The first eleven verses of that chapter were read to us a few moments ago in our opening reading.

Here’s another question I threw out to our candidates: "Why? Why does the Holy Spirit come to us in this sacrament? What’s his purpose? The Spirit already came to us in Baptism. He came to us in that sacrament to free us from all sin (Original and actual). He came to us in that sacrament in order to bring us into the family of God--the Church. He came to us so that we would be "born again" of water and the Spirit. So isn’t that enough? Why is it that we need a second sacramental outpouring of the Holy Spirit?"

Some of them answered by saying, "Well, it’s to make us adults in the Church."

I said to them, "Look, if you’re 18 years old, and you’re a Catholic, then you’re an adult in the Church! That’s not the primary reason that the Spirit comes to us in Confirmation."

Here we come face to face with a truth that many Catholics have either ignored or forgotten. And the world is suffering today because of it. Some people are probably dying in their sins because of it.

In this regard, here’s what it says in the New Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph # 1303: "Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace . . . it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross."

The Spirit comes to us in Confirmation, quite simply, so that we will be the Lord’s faithful witnesses in the world! That’s the reason we receive this outpouring. And isn’t this what Jesus told his apostles before he ascended into Heaven? In Acts 1, verse 8, Jesus said to them, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you; then you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the earth." That was the purpose of the original outpouring of the Spirit 2,000 years ago, and it’s been the purpose of the outpouring of the Spirit in every Confirmation that’s taken place since then. And so it’s not a coincidence that right after the original Confirmation ceremony the apostles went out into the streets of Jerusalem and proclaimed their faith. That’s exactly what they had just been anointed to do! These men, who, only a few hours before were locked away in the upper room afraid to go out the front door--these men now boldly, clearly and proudly witness to anyone and everyone who will listen. And notice the difference they make--three thousand are baptized in a single day.

When we look at the world today, I think it’s quite clear: the grace of Confirmation is a much needed grace, but it’s a grace that is often wasted. In this regard, I’ll never forget something that Professor William Marra from Fordham University said a couple of years ago. He said, "Vatican II teaches that the primary role of baptized and confirmed lay people is to bring Christ into the marketplace--to bring Christ and his gospel into the world." He went on to say, "You know, if Catholic doctors, nurses, professors and lawyers had all taken their vocation in Christ seriously back in the late 1960’s, abortion would never have become legal in this country. Because, back then, if they had made their voices heard in defense of the gospel message of the sanctity of human life, the American people would have listened." Dr. Marra is right. This is why I said that the grace of confirmation is often a wasted grace, but it’s a much needed grace.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in this week’s Providence Visitor there was an article on Congressman Henry Hyde from Illinois. (How I wish he were from Rhode Island!) In case you’re not aware of it, he’s the representative responsible for the Hyde Amendment which bars all federal funding for abortion. I wonder how many lives have been saved because of that law! At a press conference last month, Mr. Hyde said, "The most important thing in my life is my Catholic faith." God bless Henry Hyde--he hasn’t wasted the grace of the Holy Spirit that was given to him in Confirmation. He’s used it to defend life in the marketplace--in the world. As far as I’m concerned, he should give some remedial Confirmation classes to our Senator Jack Reed.

There was yet another great example in this week’s Visitor of the grace of Confirmation at work. This was a fascinating story. It concerned Noel Earley--the man from our state with Lou Gehrig’s disease who had planned to commit assisted suicide last year on December 4th. The controversy this caused made the national news--although the Visitor article dealt with an important part of the story that was never reported by the secular press. Apparently, because of the courageous and persistent evangelizing efforts of a Catholic nun, Earley had a kind of inner conversion--through which he came to find some hope and meaning in his suffering. (Of course what really puzzles me is why this never made it into the secular press?! They tell us they’re so thorough in their reporting! . . . Gene Valicenti, where were you on this one?)

Let me share with you now a few excerpts from the article, which was written by the nun who befriended Earley, Sister Mary Clement:

[During our first conversation, Earley said], "But I don’t see any point in suffering. I don’t want to go through the choking and gasping. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to pray. I’d be too busy choking and gasping." I think with this statement, Noel revealed his deepest concern perhaps without realizing it.

"Noel’, [I said] ‘you don’t have to worry about anything. If you relinquish yourself to God’s care, He’ll take care of you. If you choose suicide, you’ll be totally alone. If you die naturally, God will be there to help you. He can’t help you commit suicide. It would contradict the truth about who God is and who you are."

[He said], "What do you think will happen to me when I die?"

[I answered], "You will surely be accountable before God. You are in your right mind. In fact, it will be clear that God did his best to save you. A natural death is a complete relinquishing of ourselves to God who created us, to be eternally in a loving relationship with him. Imagine a married couple. What if one of them is not willing to surrender himself or herself to the other? Eventually, the marriage is destroyed. Surrendering self to God, like surrendering self in marriage, must be complete."

Over the course of the next few weeks, Sister Mary Clement and Earley had several more conversations during which she continued to share with him the love of Christ and the message of the gospel. And little by little, his mind and heart began to open to the truth. She even brought him a gift, which he kept in front of him in his room from that point until his death: a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Toward the end of the article, Sister Mary Clement shared one of the notes she wrote to Earley during this period of time:

Dear Noel,

Good day! I spend three hours a day in prayer. . . and you are very much a part of my prayers. You said to me more than once that you hope I am right when I speak of God’s personal love for you and his desire to have you with him in heaven. God is trustworthy. He . . . cannot deceive you, and you cannot deceive him. He knows all. And he knows exactly the time he intends to take you to himself. Noel, let him. Here’s a prayer [to say], "My Jesus, have mercy!"

The last time I spoke to Noel on the phone I said, "Noel, Jesus loves you."
"I know," he said. (This was more than just another, "Thank you!")
Noel David Earley died a natural death on January 15, 1997.

My brothers and sisters, in the book of the prophet Isaiah it says that the Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. Those are gifts that Sister Mary Clement utilized in her dealings with Noel Earley. She received those gifts many years ago from the Holy Spirit at her Confirmation, and she didn’t waste them. Praise God. And because she didn’t waste them, she may have helped to save a human soul from eternal death. That’s the power of Pentecost. That’s the power of Confirmation. And that’s the power we can receive from the Holy Spirit every day, if we simply ask in faith--if we simply cry out with a sincere heart and say, "Come Holy Spirit."