{"id":12529,"date":"2020-07-29T10:28:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T14:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/?p=12529"},"modified":"2023-11-06T17:49:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T17:49:31","slug":"bishops-blog-confirmation-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/es\/bishops-blog\/bishops-blog-confirmation-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Confirmation Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nDuring a recent Confirmation, I began my homily reflection by asking a question. If Jesus came here today and allowed you to ask for whatever you wanted, what would be the first thing to come to your mind?
\nIn the Old Testament, we see God appear to Solomon in a dream to ask a very similar question. Here is Solomon, a famous King, with the Kingdom at his disposal, people at his service, an army \u2014 everything the world could offer. Yet, what he desires is an understanding heart to better lead the people. “Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours” (1 Kings 3:9<\/a>)? God was pleased and granted the request recognizing what Solomon sought benefitted his people; it was for the common good.
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\nWhen I consider this reading with respect to Confirmation, I think of that moment when I evoke the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of my hands. I will ask God, the Father, to confer on you \u2014 wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. These gifts are similar to those Solomon sought so to judge and guide the people wisely, abilities that made him unlike anyone before or after him. The Spirit of God changed Solomon, so does the sacrament of Confirmation<\/a>, change those who receive it.
\nIf our Confirmation, a life with Christ, does not change us, we have missed something. Instead of asking God what you want from him, perhaps we can reverse the question and ask the Lord what he wants from us? What can we do to make ourselves and our world better? How can we use these Gifts of the Holy Spirit to make a difference, to build a better world, witnesses to the truth of the teachings of Christ, to be witnesses to his Gospel?
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\nThe message shared with the Confirmation students<\/a> pertains to each one of us. At another recent Confirmation celebration, I shared six words that I believe not only give voice to many of our concerns but also illuminates how faith in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, provides comfort and strength for these times. The six words are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n