Confirmation; Youth from St. Anthony Upton, St. Matthew Hulett, Corpus Christi Newcastle
I have had the good fortune to spend a fair amount of time recently with our young Church. Last night 26 young people received the Sacrament of Confirmation at Corpus Christi in Newcastle. The youth were from St. Anthony in Upton, St. Matthew in Hulett and Corpus Christi in Newcastle.
This group last night warmed my heart with their attention and participation during Mass. It shows they received a very good preparation (catechesis) as well as evidence to their relationship with Christ (evangelization.)
The challenge for them and all of us in this Year of Faith is to not only know our faith, but to grow in our personal love for Christ. It is our relationship with Christ and our desire to show our love for Christ in concrete ways that truly matters.
A great deal of focus in the homily last night was also on the Spirit of Truth, given to us by Christ. This Year of Faith challenges us to believe in an absolute truth, a truth that is objective, eternal, and universal (applies to all people of all time.)
Our faith teaches us that this Truth is ultimately, the person, Jesus Christ. This Truth is written in every human heart, and is the truth every person seeks. Once we discover this truth, we have an obligation to live the truth in love.
It is the same Spirit given us by Christ that guides our conscience with this truth to know what is right and what is wrong. (Thus, this truth is objective and absolute.) It is the same Spirit that then gives us the courage to do what we know is right according to this truth.
In our culture today, many want to deny that there is such a thing as absolute truth; for to do so makes it much easier for each person to do what ever they wish, what ever they think is right. This of course is a wrong notion of true freedom. St. Paul teaches that “It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1) Such freedom is rooted in Truth, not the latest opinion polls.
Live the Truth! Life the Faith!
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