In conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation on 78 adults and teen-agers during a June 8 Pentecost Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy told them to “always carry with you the commitment that you make this day to take up the Gospel and live it with integrity.”
“You are missionary disciples of Jesus Christ called to go out into the world to encounter everyone you meet,” Cardinal McElroy said, “and never lose sight of the fact that they are equally with you a child of God who loves us all and loves us all equally.”
Speaking in both Spanish and English, the cardinal conferred the sacrament – the Church’s third and final Sacrament of Initiation – during the nearly two-hour liturgy. It was his first celebration of Pentecost since he was installed as the new archbishop of Washington on March 11. The Mass also marked the conclusion of the Easter season.
Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson, the cathedral’s rector, presented the Confirmation candidates to Cardinal McElroy, and told him that “these men and women have been prepared and are ready to receive the fullness of Christian initiation in the Sacrament of Confirmation.”
Cardinal McElroy told the candidates that it was “with great joy” that he conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation “on this day of Pentecost which is the coming of the Holy Spirit and the original Confirmation in the life of the Church which transformed the Church and sent it forth into the world.”
Reminding the confirmandi that “the Spirit of God comes in a special way profoundly this day in the grace of this sacrament,” Cardinal McElroy said they have taken up a “pathway of living the Gospel” which is “the best road to enduring happiness for us in this life here on this earth.”
He called on the newly confirmed to “be a witness to the world of the virtues that were in the heart of Christ Himself – mercy, compassion, understanding, integrity, courage, justice, fortitude, hope, prayerfulness, (and) faith.”
Remarking on the popularity of Facebook, Cardinal McElroy said that while that social media platform “has many, many wonderful elements,” it also provides people with the ability “go online and ... create a picture for the rest of the world about who they are rather than who they really are.” He called it “advancing yourself by deluding others.”
He said living “a life in which we get to shut out anybody or any type of people that we would rather not deal with” would be “utterly antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the sacrament which we are celebrating this day.”
“Christ says to us we should seek in our lives not to create illusions about ourselves for others to see, but rather to have an integrity within our heart and soul that shines forth the reality that we are with all our strengths and weaknesses.” Cardinal McElroy said. “We in the Christian community are called not to exclude others – to shut them out – but rather to go out into the world and engage with everyone we meet in the sense of accompaniment and dialogue.”
Saying that “the Spirit of God stands in the hearts and the souls of these men and women who have been confirmed,” Cardinal McElroy thanked and congratulated their families and sponsors who catechized them and prayed that “Spirit of God come upon you in a special way.”
Prior to departing the altar at the end of Mass, Cardinal McElroy offered a prayer for the newly confirmed that “the spirit of God will be deep within your heart and your soul – that wherever you may go or whatever you may do or fail to do in your life on this earth you may know that God walks with you, accompanying you, bearing you up, consoling you, challenging you, and filling you with love.”
