By Annie-Rose Keith, Connecting Creed and Life
“Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to ‘know the Father and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ.’” (CCC 684)
I’m noticing that the older I get, the more I delight in watching the Holy Spirit work through and among others. Certainly one should be grateful for “eyes to see and ears to hear” and each one of us has hopes of desires being fulfilled. For example, it is perfectly alright to ask God for total healing for a friend’s (or yours!) terminal illness, or renovation of a marriage that is struggling. Let it be humbly submitted that there is a peace and joy that comes from standing in someone’s corner and observing the Holy Spirit working in their life. We cannot do this without acknowledging God’s grace working in our lives because without that, how are we to let the Holy Spirit awaken faith in us? To bring us to a new life in Jesus?
Having been on several Cursillo retreat teams, the best job on the team is to serve as the music stand (assistant song leader). I play when I’m told, as one of the musicians, and I get to sing with my friends. More importantly, I get to witness some really pivotal moments on the weekend. The team that sits in the back gets to watch as God begins to heal or reignite the weekend attendees because of the powerful witnesses given by their table leaders, coordinators (rectoras) and spiritual directors. I’ve noticed that after the weekend ends, the attendees leave with a new fire in their hearts to love and serve the Lord. They love Jesus! Most of the time, this carries over into their involvement in the parish, which only adds to the beauty of their witness and benefits not only their hearts but their parish family. Praise the Lord for good fruit from encounters with the Holy Spirit at immersive experiences like retreats! These experiences open us up to new possibilities to let the Holy Spirit work within us, within others and among others. We cannot watch the Holy Spirit work if we do not notice the Holy Spirit working within us.
This is why we have the sacrament of Confirmation. The more I guide young people through this sacrament, the more I pray for the Holy Spirit to tune my eyes and heart to the things I can’t see about this sacrament. Or, at least, the things that I can’t immediately see. This is a sacrament that plants fruit which will blossom later. Patience is hard, but the Holy Spirit is way better at it than we are, trust me.
Confirmation is a call. A call to step out, taking our universal Catholic faith as our own, that we might share it and invite others to enter into such a relationship with Christ. Regardless of what age you were Confirmed, this sacrament is lived out each and every day we are walking with Jesus and within our calling from God. How’s your walk going? Do you think you’re doing what God created you to do? Who was your patron saint?
Confirmation gives us the confidence to know that we are following Jesus through His church. We are acting according to God’s will and looking to heaven with our friends and family. We renew our baptismal promises every year, so why not reflect on our Confirmation each year? Ask yourself, why am I Catholic? Am I doing what I believe God wants me to do? Am I going to Mass every Sunday? Am I partaking in the sacraments? In a sacrament that’s often hard to explain, it is these simple acts that enable the unseen actions to become seen in our hearts and right in front of our eyes.
Annie-Rose Keith is the Director of Faith Formation for Resurrection Parish in Evansville. A native of Southern Illinois, Annie-Rose enjoys dabbling in various creative outlets like painting, music, crochet and graphic design, and spending time with her husband Joe and children, Juliana and Theo.