3rd Sunday of Easter
Confirmation
April 23, 2023
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
A Friend Returns
Perhaps something like this has happened to you. When I was about your age, a good friend moved far away. When he left, I never thought I would see him again. We promised to write each other (this was before social media existed) but we were never really good about doing that. I felt like I had lost a friend forever. Then, one day came the news. My friend and his family were moving back. They bought a house just a few blocks from my parents’ home. Before long, my friend returned, and it was like old times. With one difference. We were even happier to hang out together. At that age, I wouldn’t have called it joy, but that’s what it was: joy.
The Source of Joy
We all need to have joy in our lives. Without it, the world is a pretty awful place. We become lonely and isolated, sort of closed in on ourselves. But joy isn’t something we manufacture, something we cook up all by ourselves. Joy comes from relationships – real relationships – not just virtual ones. It comes from friendship, especially with those who share your experience. The older I get, the more I value friendship and if you don’t already, I hope you will.
But friendship doesn’t just materialize out of thin air. It’s true we form friendships because of common interests, or just because we enjoy being with another person and vice-versa. But that’s not enough for deep and lasting friendship. Our friendship has to have a basis, a foundation, an anchor – and guess what that is. It’s the joy God has in loving us. It’s God’s desire for our friendship in return.
You and I both know that human love is pretty fragile. It falls apart pretty easily. But God’s love isn’t like that, because, as the Bible teaches, God IS love. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, and the love they share is the Holy Spirit. God wants to “plug us into” the love that he has and is. That is why he sent his Son into the world. That is why he gives us the Holy Spirit.
Joy Is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit:
In preparing for Confirmation, you learned that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s one of the results, the outcomes, of welcoming the Holy Spirit into our hearts. That’s what I hope you will do today as you are being confirmed: welcome the Holy Spirit into your hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand how much God loves you and to help you develop a real friendship with Jesus Christ.
Unlike my friend who moved away, the Lord does not move away. Jesus promised to be with us always, and one of the most important ways he does this is the Eucharist, the Mass. We saw this in the Gospel reading about the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The two disciples did not recognize the Risen Lord as he joined them on the road, but as they walked along, Jesus spoke to them about his Father’s love for them. He helped them see how all of Scripture pointed to him and to his death and resurrection. As Jesus spoke, their hearts glowed with joy and understanding. When he sat down with them at table and broke the bread, their eyes were opened, and they realized Risen had been with them all along.
That’s what happens when we go to Mass. Jesus speaks to us in Scripture. If we listen with the help of the Holy Spirit, we’ll begin to understand how much God loves us and how much he wants our friendship. And if we are open to the Holy Spirit, we will recognize that Jesus makes himself truly present to us as bread and wine become his body and blood, so that he can live in us, speak to our hearts, and befriend us. The Holy Spirit connects us to the Risen Lord so that we can share in the eternal friendship of the Father and the Son … and experience God’s friendship, his love for us as individuals and as a part of the Church. Once you and I are convinced that God loves us then we will seek and find good and healthy friendships and we will also extend ourselves in friendship to others, especially those in need.
As I confirm you, I will pray for each of you, that you may find joy in the Holy Spirit, and experience a deep and never-ending friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ, a friendship that you keep alive by coming to Mass on Sunday, by daily prayer, and by continuing to serve those in need, for Jesus is also find among the poor. And may God bless you and keep you always in his love.