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The "Pastor's Corner" is a collection of essays written by Father McCreary on a variety of subjects including Church teachings, social issues of the day, and things to think about. They are published weekly in our Church Bulletin. Click on a essay title below to jump to that essay, scroll down to read them all or click on a subject above to view more essays. |
From
the Pastor's Desk  Very Reverend Glenn McCreary, V.F. |
Sacrament of Confirmation May 22, 2005
Sacrament of Confirmation May 22, 2005
The Sacrament of Confirmation has one frightening aspect: the questions
the bishop will ask the candidates. And we're all afraid: young people,
parents, teachers, DREs and pastors. We're all afraid the bishop will
ask a question and no one will have the right answer.
But in April when Bishop Martino asked the questions, he remarked on
how happy he was with the answers our young people gave. And he particularly
remarked on the answer to one question: "Who do you receive in
confirmation?" He was pleased our students knew that they received
the Holy Spirit. Apparently, quite a few young people in other parishes
had answered the question incorrectly, thinking that in confirmation
they would receive Jesus.
Maybe it's time to reflect on the Trinity once again. Maybe we've lost
a sense of what that truth means. Some years ago, our churches were
full of visual reminders of the Trinity: the triangle with three intertwined
rings, statues of the Father and the Son on their thrones (the dove
of the Spirit hovering between them), stained glass windows where the
Father held the crucifix in outstretched arms (again, the dove hovered
over the head of Jesus), even St Patrick waving the shamrock (a three-leaved,
not four-leaved clover) before the high king at Tara. Our old hymns
sang clearly of "God in three-persons, Blessed Trinity" and
"Most holy Trinity, undivided Unity." Maybe the inclusive
language of latter years, naming God with phrases like the one "who
lives and loves and saves," doesn't quite carry the weight of the
mystery.
What do we believe? We believe that there is absolutely only one God.
But, we also believe that God is a community of relationships (St John
tells us "God is love."). The Father speaks the Word (that
is, the Son) and loves (and that love is the Spirit) the Word he has
spoken. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit always existed. The
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God-no one person of the
Trinity is more or less God than the other.
How can we believe it? In Jesus, we learn that the Father sends the
Son and the Holy Spirit into the world to work out our salvation. Jesus
calls God "Father". Jesus promises the Spirit. Jesus claims
to be one with the Father. The Trinity is a mystery-as beyond our reasoning
as God is beyond our understanding. But we believe because we trust
the witness of Jesus and of his first followers. We believe because
we trust the Spirit's continuing work in the church.
Why does it matter? First of all, because in Jesus God bothered to reveal
the divine nature, to invite us into an intimacy with this loving God.
And also, since we're made in God's image, the Trinity tells us that
we-and our world-were created to be about relationship, about community,
about taking responsibility for the needs of others, about love.