Affirmed
The next leg of our Adventures in Grace Pilgrimage begins this weekend. We welcome Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson to help us reflect more deeply at all Masses as he has done before; then he and his Soul Play colleagues will join us as a follow up that we call a Base Camp this Wednesday, February 16 at 7:00pm in church. It is our conviction that focusing on certain words and concepts will heighten our appreciation for the Sacraments of our church. We are presenting the Sacraments under the headings of more everyday terms. As we continue, this next adventure is called AFFIRMED and will broaden our appreciation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
To be AFFIRMED is to experience reinforcement of significant truths. Affirmation is a process of reconnecting with the truth or something truly significant about life, or ourselves or others. I can’t think of anything more important to AFFIRM on a regular basis than our faith in God. I want to urge you to affirm in yourself and others the adventure that comes from our Catholic sacramental faith and the grace that accompanies the flow of God’s love for us.
Talk about an Adventure!
The idea behind – and purpose of – our pilgrimage is to turn our ongoing appreciation for each of the Sacraments into an adventure and to see the abundance of grace in the moments and in our journey. We are both exploring and realizing that Sacraments (the formal 7 of our Church) and sacraments (the daily holy moments) flow from God’s abundant Grace. This may stand in contrast to what many of us were taught – Sacraments give grace.
That is indeed true, but in this next phase of our pilgrimage you will see that affirmation can play such an important role in the ongoing grace of Confirmation. Articulated another way, we not only receive the following gifts when we get Confirmed, but we must be vehicles of them as a result of receiving them. The Holy Spirit’s grace gives these to us, but we must in turn share the grace of how they are manifest in our lives. They are gifts to be given.
We are urging all of you to see that Confirmation, like all other Sacraments, is not a noun – it is a verb. The question is not WERE you Confirmed? The deeper spiritual reality to take to prayer and constantly evaluate is ARE you Confirmed?
So apply these reflections to the following gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Wisdom
Understanding
Right Judgement
Knowledge
Courage
Reverence
Wonder and Awe in God’s creation.
The acronym of the first letters of each gift is:
W U R K C R (e) W. Perhaps that will help you remember them.
As we dive into being AFFIRMED we will no doubt see the importance of CONFIRMING many things, people, gifts, talents, commitments …
As the last Adventure DRENCHED led us into deeper reflection about Baptism, Terry Nelson-Johnson emphasized that the most essential thing that is CONFIRMED in the Sacrament of Confirmation is OUR BAPTISM.
This Adventure has been filled with grace so far. It has also involved years of planning and hours of preparation and energy, in addition to the regular heartbeat of activities and ministries here at Holy Family.
I want to sincerely thank Marsha Adamczyk and Mary Whiteside from our Adult Faith Ministering Community for taking the lead on all things pilgrimage. Gene Garcia has added his creativity and talent, not only with music but in other areas of environment and execution. Michael Patti coordinates all digital presentations and adds so much to this undertaking, as he does each week for our liturgies. You hear his voice making announcements before weekend liturgies. Deacon Dennis Brown offers insights and direction, particularly in the formation of our Gatherings In Grace (GIGs). Let’s continue to be spiritual pilgrims together. Let’s invite others to join us.
Some sentiment and my future
In the fall of 2008 Bishop Rassas called and asked if I would consider coming to Holy Family. I said “yes” and hung up the phone. I then found Holy Family in the old Archdiocesan Directory and saw a greater number of lay staff than any parish I was aware of. That really excited me. I applied to be pastor. The placement board accepted and the Cardinal approved.
I was named Pastor on Ash Wednesday 2009 and in an interesting series of events, presided at Ray Debrauwere’s funeral here the next day. His daughter Christi is a parishioner at my previous parish, St. Matthias. The appointment became official on July 1 2009. I participated in the 360 Evaluation after my first 6 year term, and again in 2021. The conversation about the remainder of my time with you as your pastor has been extended to late August of this year as the formal part of Renew My Church concludes. I will share more details then regarding my desire to remain with you even longer. I consider being your pastor one of the greatest blessings of my life.