There is No Graduation From the Faith Bishop Francis I. Malone, Bishop of Shreveport I have just completed my “confirmation tour” of the diocese for the Spring of 2022. I will have two more in the late summer or early fall. It has been a wonderful experience visiting SO many of our parishes and missions, from Zwolle to Oak Grove and in between – from a few in number to close to ninety. The Holy Spirit is alive and well in our diocese. My pattern is to arrive early enough at each church in order to meet with the confirmandi prior to the Mass. I use this time to relieve their anxiety, and to let them know what to expect during the Confirmation Mass. I have found that virtually all of the candidates are well-prepared to receive this sacrament, and I am indebted to their pastors, Catechists and DRE’s for the great work they do in preparing them. From my experience over the years I have noticed that most bishops have, what they call their “Confirmation Sermon for this year.” In other words, they preach the same sermon to each of the groups of candidates, and come up with a new one the next year. I have done the same. The advantage of this is that everyone hears the same message from the bishop. One of the stories I have used this year is a YouTube video I came across of Pope Francis in his “pope mobile,” being driven around St. Peter’s Square so that those who are a distance from the stage can get to see him up close. In this one video, the pope mobile approaches a group of high school students, who shout out to him, “Papa Francisco….Papa Francisco!” The pope has the driver stop the vehicle, and he leans over the side and one of the young people announce to him that they are newly
confirmed. His response to them is simple, “remember,” he says, “Confirmation is not graduation.” What I really like about his message is that I have used the same one for years with those entrusted to my care in preparation for their Confirmation. But, I also found that this is a perfect message for all of us, whether we attend school or not, whether we are involved in our parish’s PSR or not, whether we are newly confirmed or not. Simply, there is no graduation from our lives of faith – unless, of course, we think of the day of our final transition from this life to the next. We are pilgrims of faith, sojourners on the way, travelers with one another until the Lord calls us home. And even then – we become advocates for those we leave behind. Look at it this way: as my former bishop would say, “we are all in this together!” We belong to one another – and we owe it to each other to be a model for how one acts who is filled with God’s Holy Spirit. The sacraments change us – some permanently like baptism and confirmation – and some continually like the Eucharist we receive EACH Sunday, or the sacrament of reconciliation we receive when we most need it. There is no graduation – no end we experience to our daily and regular encounter with the Lord. I see this happen each time I anoint someone in Confirmation – I hope, that if you have already been Confirmed that you feel that too!
AUGUST 2022
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