February 3, 2012
2012 Confirmation Spectacular
Day includes explanation of Mass components by bishop
Bishop Charles C. Thompson prepares for the celebration of Mass during the 2012 Confirmation Spectacular. During his homily, he talked about the Mass, “why we do what we do.” (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
The parish center at St. Joseph Church in Jasper was filled with energy last Saturday as over 300 young adults gathered to learn more about the Catholic faith.
The Jan. 28 Confirmation Spectacular was designed for those young adults who are preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation in the next year or two.
It was a time to learn about the Sacraments, hear an explanation of the components of the Mass, and grow in an understanding of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Related story: Rappelling metaphor suggests the ‘rope as the Church’)
Songwriter and musician Chris Padgett was the featured speaker. He asked the participants “What does God want to do in your life?”
He reminded them that “God is in love with you.”
Padgett asked them to say, “Jesus picks me.” He told them that God wants them to know they are never alone. Then he asked them to say, “Jesus prepares me,” reminding them that “he has called you, and is preparing you so you can do something great with that faith.
“Don’t you dare let Confirmation be the end of your spiritual journey.”
Then Padgett asked the young adults to say, “Jesus protects me,” telling them that knowledge will allow them to “go out and live this faith.”
After he prayed with the group, he said, “If you say ’yes’ to Jesus, who knows what awesome things will be prepared for you. Ten, fifteen years from now — what will be your story?”
At the conclusion of the Confirmation Spectacular, Bishop Charles C. Thompson celebrated Mass with the participants.
During his homily, he talked about the Mass, “why we do what we do.”
He started by talking about the readings, noting how he is “always amazed” at how the Spirit always helps us convert them to our lives.
The Mass is not static, he said, but has evolved over 2,000 years. He told the young adults that not so long ago the Mass was celebrated in Latin, not English. “We are always adjusting to the needs of our people.”
The bishop explained that the Mass has two principal parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. In the Liturgy of the Word, there are readings from the Old and New Testaments, and from the four Gospels. He reminded the youth that Jesus was a Jewish man, and that to be disrespectful of the Jewish tradition is to be disrespectful to ourselves, to our roots.
The prayers of the faithful which are offered during Mass offer a time to “pray for the whole world,” reminding us as Catholics that “we are connected to the whole world.”
He said, “The first reason we celebrate Mass is to give thanks. We first give thanks to God; we give thanks for all God has given us.”
And he stressed that during Mass, “we recall when Jesus said, ‘This is my body. This is my blood.’ As Catholics, we take Jesus literally. We believe the bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus. We believe in that very real presence.
“Jesus gave this Eucharist to us. It’s his gift to us.”
He encouraged the young adults to really say “Amen” as they receive Communion, because they are getting more than bread and wine. “We are saying ‘Amen’ not to the priest, but to God.”
And when the Mass is concluded “it’s not over,” he said. “It’s just the beginning for us.” It’s time to “transform the world.”
As they prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation, he encouraged them to “be thinking how you are going to be a witness of Christ to the world.”