(Given at the 5:30 pm Sunday youth Mass at OLP)
I was confirmed when I was 18 years old. My Confirmation was delayed for various reasons, which is why it was so late. But I am happy for it, actually, due to the fact that it made me long for the Sacrament even more. I longed to be sealed with the Holy Spirit in the most complete way. I longed for his seven gifts: knowledge, fortitude, counsel, wisdom (still working on that one), piety, understanding, and fear of the Lord. A good way to remember these is KFC with Puffy Chicken. K refers to knowledge, F refers to fortitude, C refers to counsel, the W in with refers to wisdom, P refers to piety, U refers to understanding, and F refers to fear of the Lord. The rest is just to complete the phrase. Anyway, I longed to be confirmed in Christ and in Christ’s mission for me. And we hear about this from our first reading tonight. Isaiah says, “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.” These gifts are ours, my brothers and sisters! We who have been joined to Christ in Baptism and most especially in Confirmation. The Spirit rests upon us. The Spirit and his gifts were upon Jesus and led to his mission. The same is true for us. Part of Advent is recognizing and deepening our understanding of what God has done for us. We who are confirmed can enter into this reality in a deeper way this season. Christ was confirmed for his mission of saving the world from sin, death, and the devil. As we await the coming of Christ at Christmas, we are called to grow closer in relationship with Christ and to deepen these gifts of the Spirit we have received. To help us in our day to day life. In school, in work, when we have downtime, etc. The Spirit rested upon Jesus, and it rests upon us today. Come Holy Spirit, open up our hearts for Christ and his coming.