Father Kevin’s Posts

Third in a series of letters to youth making confirmation this year. I pray the thoughts will also be of value to those who have already made their confirmation

My younger brothers and sisters in Christ

In my last letter I explained some basics about sacraments. With that bit of background, I’d like to talk more about your story – the story of your life and, especially, the part that God has and can play in that story. It may not be clear to you now, but God is interested in every part of your life and, most importantly, he wants it to be a great one. If you think of your life as a movie God wants it to have a great plot, filled with meaningful scenes, and a great ending. 

 So, where does your story begin? The writer of Psalm 139 tells us that it starts before your birth. He prays to God, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (139:13-14). I like that last part – “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” It reminds me that God cares about us at a level deeper than any friend ever can or will. 

 Despite that great beginning you entered the world with “original sin.” Theologians have written long books on this and perhaps later you’ll want to learn more about it. For now, it may be enough to know that to truly love God we must have free choice and that, beginning with the first person created, we’ve tended to choose ourselves over God. We all seem to start our lives separated from God and baptism is what restores the relationship that God wants for us. Of course, we continue to struggle with choosing ourselves over God, but baptism is the sacrament that first puts us on God’s team. 

 I know that you likely don’t remember anything about your baptism, and no one asked if you wanted to be baptized. In fact, your parents and godparents are the ones who answered all the questions – professing their faith and promising to teach you about God. Still, baptism is a sacrament and for that reason alone it is worth looking back at what happened to you. 

 In my last letter I tried to explain that sacraments have both a visible part – the signs and symbols we humans can pick up with our senses – and a part that works on the level of our soul. The priest or deacon poured water over your head and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Your parents and family saw moving water that reminded them of washing something, but that act was more than symbolic. It actually caused your soul to be cleansed of original sin and that got you on God’s team. 

 Right after the baptism, you were anointed with sacred chrism – a special oil blessed by the bishop. Those present prayed that through that anointing the Holy Spirit would come into your life to guide and protect you. When you’re confirmed, the bishop will again use sacred chrism and pray for you to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. So, in some way, that anointing from a long time ago can be seen as the first step toward your confirmation. 

 I don’t know what the next steps have been like for you. Maybe it has been easy. Maybe your parents took you to church and lived out their faith so that God always seemed a part of your life. If so, you need to be grateful. A lot of youth don’t have that advantage. For them, the journey of faith has been harder. God hasn’t been a constant part of their lives. Oh, he’s been there, but without someone to provide some guidance, it can be hard to see. 

 If you fall into that second category – if for some reason God hasn’t been particularly present as you’ve grown up – there are two things you need to know. First, God put you on his team when you were baptized and nothing that has happened since is going to change that. Oh, you may need to receive the sacrament of reconciliation to acknowledge your failings and to wipe the slate clean, but God’s not looking for an excuse to cut you from the squad. 

 Second, nothing in the past changes confirmation. The Holy Spirit is still going to come into your life, and you will be changed – strengthened and empowered to be a better Christian. So even if others are farther along in their spiritual journey than you are, you can still experience all that God wants for your life. 

 Have you been praying? Yeah, I know it’s not always easy or natural. At times it may seem rather pointless, but you need to make prayer a habit. You can’t have a relationship with God unless you’re willing to spend time with him. Take some time later today and work on that relationship. Offer a short prayer or maybe crack open your Bible. You might like the gospel of Mark. It has some great stories about Jesus and it’s easy to read. 

 Don’t forget, God wants the absolute best for you. Get to know him. Find out what he’s got in mind for you. 

 Your brother in Christ, 

Fr. Kevin 

You won’t be the only person who has thought this. Perhaps it came to you during an examination of conscience. While you are to be congratulated for your honest evaluation, what will you do about it?

Most people can’t answer that question simply because the statement “I’ve failed to put God first” is too vague. A better way to approach this is to ask, “What would it look like for me to put God first in my life?” Would you have set times for prayer? Would attending Mass be something you’d choose over everything else? Would you take time each day to let God speak to you through the Bible?

It is critical that you come up with specific things. If not, you’ll be like thousands of people who, on January 1st say, “This is the year I’m going to get in shape.” That’s so vague as to be useless and because there’s nothing concrete in the goal, it will never happen. Consider, however, a goal like, “This year, I’ll go to the gym twice a week.” That’s wonderfully clear. When Saturday rolls around, you’ll be able to definitively say if you achieved your goal that week.

The same is true for our topic. “Putting God first” is vague. You need to come up with specific things to do and it will help to spend some time determining what you are currently placing before God. That may be the hardest task simply because the thing that’s occupying the first place in your life will be important to you. It may, in fact, be a perfectly fine thing that has slowly taken over your life. You would not be the first person, for example, to realize that your love of a particular sport has slowly pushed God aside.

Putting God first won’t happen easily. It will take prayerful thought to understand your current situation and more time to set specific goals. But keep in mind two things. First, this is worth the effort. God’s ways are always better than ours and will lead us to the abundant life Jesus promised his disciples (John 10:10). Second, you don’t have to do this all with your own strength. The Holy Spirit is in your life to help and empower you. That is critical for success.