What Are You Waiting For?

Our young people have started their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, to be celebrated in November. It is always a happy moment in the parish and a joyful outpouring of the Holy Spirit. However, very often, it is seen as the end of a journey for them – the completion of their course of faith formation and all the obligations that go along with it. Let me say this clearly: if we see Confirmation as an end for them and not a beginning, then we have wasted our young people’s faith formation.

Wasted it.

Today, on Pentecost, we celebrate the culmination of the Easter mystery – the fulfillment of God’s promise of new life and renewal of our lives. This is the Gift of the Holy Spirit – not some separate experience outside of Easter, but an intimate and necessary part of it. St. Oscar Romero said this about our celebration today:

“Fifty days later the gentle breath of the risen One becomes a hurricane that invites humanity to attend to the meaning of this breath that comes from God. … Here the fullness of Easter is revealed. Many of you participated in the Easter Vigil and remember the paschal candle that illuminated the dark night of Holy Saturday; it then spread through the candles of all who were there. Now on Pentecost it takes the form of tongues of fire that descend from heaven, and these paschal flames are  symbols of God who takes flesh in human beings, symbols of the Spirit of God that no one can extinguish. This is the fullness of Easter.”

Do you believe that? Do you believe that now as the Holy Spirit has descended upon you that you are now a “paschal candle” in the world of today that others must see and experience and draw light from? That is what we are acknowledging on this great feast. We are set ablaze by the fire of the Spirit and that means that we are not meant to – nor should we be able to – sit still!

Receiving the Holy Spirit means becoming a disciple in the fullest sense. It means that we are impelled to go out, not sit around. We are driven by that “hurricane” that calls us to enter into the mission of the Church. IF you have received the Holy Spirit and are not invested in and engaged in the mission of our parishes, then what are you waiting for? This is what ministry means, and every member is a minister. Let’s get to work!

Maybe you are thinking that these are nice words and I have to say them because that’s my job. Correct. However, you are hearing them, and you are acknowledging that you are a vessel of that same Holy Spirit poured upon the disciples in the Upper Room. They went straight out and  began the work of evangelization. Here too we have work to do – ministries to activate; this is what the Spirit wants of us, and that is what the Spirit empowers us to do. What are we waiting for?

This past week, the Holy Father spoke about our call to go, to respond to Christ’s call in our lives. He said,

[T]oday’s Christian might be tempted to think, “Why start work immediately? If the pay is the same, why work more?”. Saint Augustine responds to these doubts, saying: “Why do you put off him that calls you, certain as you are of the reward, but uncertain of the day? Take heed then lest peradventure what he is to give you by promise, you take from yourself by delay”. I would like to say, especially to the young, do not wait, but respond enthusiastically to the Lord who calls us to work in his vineyard. Do not delay, roll up your sleeves, because the Lord is generous and you will not be disappointed! Working in his vineyard, you will find an answer to that profound question you carry within you: what is the meaning of my life?

I want to challenge you – every single person who understands what I am saying (so, even the young ones!) – to get involved in the life of the pastorate. Join a committee, embrace a liturgical ministry, join or start a small group, volunteer – give of yourself. That is how you will grow in your relationship with the Lord and the Church He loves. That is how you will deepen your own experience of God’s love for you. And you will discover meaning. There is nothing to wait for: not some special knowledge, not the completion of some course, not even the reception of Confirmation. Remember: you received the Holy Spirit at your Baptism and thereby became a member of the Church.

And every member is a minister. What are we waiting for?

Even as we close out the Easter season, we must be aware that something has not ended. Something has just begun. You are I are privileged to be here – to receive the Spirit and God’s call to serve His people. Imagine what we could do if every one of us embraced that call to ministry and mission and went forth together to continue Christ’s active work.

As the Father has sent Him, so now He sends you.

What are you waiting for?