First Confessions, First Communions, Confirmations – for the young and not so young. It is certainly quite a May blessing, so many “Firsts”. A child and an adult, making the first confession; that is, making a public gospel proclamation based on personal experience: God’s love is greater than anything, greater than any sin! A First Communion, to receive the sacramental presence of Christ, to relish the experience of God’s infinite love, and be able to say fully, “yes, I will love as you have loved me”. And then comes, Confirmation. This mysterious sacrament is grounded in Baptism in an exceptional way. Enough to mention that Baptism and Confirmation are two moments of one sacramental experience. And yet, it is Confirmation that allows us to claim, in a personal way, that yes, we will respond to the vocation to be a prophet, priest, and royalty by active discipleship. That is, by being Christ-bearers in all that we do. In other words, Apostles.
Indeed, the month of May is a month of extraordinary grace in our parish. The entire parish needs to look for ways to express our gratitude to the Lord. Using the words of Mary, “what God has done is beyond the marvelous”. This overabundance of grace is destined to transform us more and more into the image of
God’s saving presence in the world.
This wonderful joy is also quite a challenge. Will we commit to being supportive of these “newbies”? Their new relationship with the Lord and community will need our support. At the very least, they will need the witness our good example. Further, with no small sense of humility, we need to consider where we find ourselves in terms of these sacraments. Maybe we need to do a bit of renewing.
It also needs to be said, the catechists are to be commended for all their sacrifices. They are not the responsible parties. Parents are the first teachers, it is the parent’s promised responsibility. The catechists are the “backup” to the parents. Perhaps too often, we don’t quite understand this, especially when the hurƞul words are uttered, “they don’t know how to teach”. These words set aside the sacrifices made. They choose not to be in the comfort of home and instead give the best they have.
Praise be to God, the month of May is full of grace, not surprising that May is also the month of Mary, who is truly full of grace.
Father Francisco Gómez, S.T.