29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Above is a beautiful stained glass depiction of Pentecost from St Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The picture does not do it justice in terms of grandeur or impact. When the sunlight was streaming through it, making it come to life, it looked like the Holy Spirit had indeed come. I pray it comes anew each day in you with the rising of the sun.

“Baptism, the Eucharist, and the Sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the ‘Sacraments of Christian initiation,’ whose unity must be safeguarded… The reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For ‘by the Sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” (CCC #1285, emphasis added).

For those of you who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation and have been fully initiated into the Church and the Triune Life of God, you are “obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” You’ve been granted the very gifts of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do so. are meant to bring the Light of the Holy Spirit into the world. Just as the light shines through the beautiful stained glass window, the Holy Spirit is meant to shine through your beautiful Catholic Christian Life into the world. So that others may see and believe. So others may be enlightened. So that others may simply see God’s great Beauty, Truth, & Goodness in the world in & though you by the Holy Spirit.

This weekend, teens across the New Albany Deanery will be celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation in Masses presided over by Archbishop Thompson. Holy Family will be hosting one of the three Confirmation Masses on Sunday 19 Oct. We will have some 54 teens from Holy Family; St Joseph, Corydon, St Mary, Lanesville; St Michael, Charlestown; and St Anthony, Clarksville. It be a truly catholic –universal – experience of the Catholic Church. Over the past year, these teens learned about the Jesus Christ, the Catholic Faith, the Scriptures, the Sacraments, and the Church. They participated in Fire & Water Confirmation retreats hosted by Catalyst Catholic performed Christian service, and even wrote letters to the Archbishop explaining why they wanted to be Confirmed. In their letters, they had to explain why they wanted to be Confirmed, who they chose for their sponsor & why, who they chose for their Confirmation Patron Saint & why, and how service helped them to see Christ in others. Please pray for them. Please pray that they are filled with the Spirit to ‘spread and defend the faith in word and deed’ with the whole of their lives.

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, animated by the Holy Spirit, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries