Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we continue in January, there is a lot going on, particularly for our 8th-grade students in the days ahead. Just this past Saturday, they participated in a day of retreat as a way to help them continue in their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. And in a few days, on Tuesday evening, they will go through their Confirmation Interviews, which serves as an opportunity to reflect on what they’ve done this past year and the various steps, projects, and milestones as they approach their final Sacrament of Initiation. In some ways, this is a good microcosm of what we all should experience from time to time, in our own lives of faith.
Now, to be perfectly honest, I don’t expect every 8th grader to fully appreciate the immensity and the beauty of what is happening in their preparation for Confirmation. Indeed, doing a report on the saint they are choosing for their Confirmation name, or filling out the service project reflection sheets, or writing the letter to the pastor asking to be confirmed may all seem in the moment to be more tedious and like homework than a significant reflection point in the grand scheme of things, especially in the mind of a fourteen-year-old. But things like the retreat, the interviews, the service project themselves, the picking of a sponsor, and the selection of a Confirmation name; none of these are mere things to get checked off a to-do list. They are significant reminders of what it means to live a life of faith. To know that we are connected to God, to the saints, and to others; all of that is at the center of our Catholic faith, and each of these things in preparing for Confirmation reaffirm that.
But my friends, much of our lives of faith, offer a similar kind of thing. There is a slight danger in our pious habits of losing sight in the significance of what we do. Take for example, blessing ourselves with holy water as we enter the church. So many of us do it and rightly so. But do we always consider the deeper meaning of it? How it serves as a reminder of our very own Baptism, as we place the water on heads and invoke the Trinity as we make the sign of the Cross? I certainly hope so, but in the moment rushing in for Mass, we may not always have the time to consider such things.
And so, just like our 8th-grade students, it’s important to occasionally take a moment and reflect on the significance of what we do and the deeper meaning and impact it has when we look at it with eyes of faith. I hope that in the week ahead, at some point, you might take a moment of quiet, and spend some time with the Lord, praying with Him, and looking for His presence in the busyness of life.
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
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