My sisters and brothers in Christ, today the Church throughout the world rejoices in the great feast of Pentecost. We rejoice in the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise that the Holy Spirit would come upon his disciples and remain with them always. We rejoice that the Church is not sustained merely by human effort or wisdom, but by the very life and power of God Himself. And here in this cathedral church, our joy is deepened because forty-five members of our community will today receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
We gather as the apostles once gathered: united in prayer, united with Mary the Mother of Jesus, waiting upon the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Acts of the Apostles tells us:
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak different languages”
(Acts 2:4).
The Spirit descended upon ordinary men and women and transformed them into courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ. Fear gave way to faith. Uncertainty gave way to mission. Silence gave way to joyful proclamation. That same Holy Spirit is given today.
My dear candidates for Confirmation, this sacrament is not simply a ceremony marking a stage of life. It is not a graduation from faith, but a commissioning into the life and mission of the Church.
Through the laying on of hands and the anointing with sacred chrism, the grace of Pentecost is renewed in you. The same Spirit who descended upon the apostles is poured into your hearts. From the earliest days of the Church, the apostles themselves handed on this gift. Filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they laid hands upon the faithful so that they too might receive the Spirit’s power and strength.
Today, through my ministry as bishop, that apostolic mission continues in the Church. Your Confirmation is therefore not only personal; it is ecclesial. It draws you more deeply into communion with the Church and strengthens your bond with Christ and His people.
The Church teaches that through Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, the faithful “as members of the living Christ, are incorporated into Him and made like him” (Ad Gentes 36).
In Confirmation, the Holy Spirit strengthens what began at Baptism. You are sealed with the gift of the Spirit so that you may live openly and confidently as disciples of Jesus. The Second Vatican Council speaks beautifully of this gift.
Through Confirmation, the baptised “receive the inexpressible gift, the Holy Spirit, by which they are endowed with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ” (Lumen Gentium 11).
Notice those words: special strength. The Christian life is not lived by our strength alone. We all know our weaknesses. We know the pressures of the world, the temptations toward discouragement, selfishness, and indifference. Yet Pentecost reminds us that God does not leave us unaided. He gives us His own Spirit.
Saint Paul writes:
“No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit”
(1 Cor 12:3).
To declare that Jesus is Lord is not merely to speak words. It is to surrender our lives to Him. It is to recognise His authority over our hearts, our decisions, our relationships, and our future. And this authority is not a worldly power. It is not domination or control. The authority of the Christian disciple comes from belonging to Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The Church herself possesses no mission apart from Him. Every gift, every ministry, every vocation exists so that Christ may be known and loved.
Saint Paul reminds us that there are many gifts, but one Spirit.
No one possesses every gift. No one disciple reflects the fullness of Christ alone. Together, as the Body of Christ, we bear witness to the unity and communion of God Himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each confirmed person today receives gifts not simply for personal fulfilment, but for service, for building up the Church, and for bringing hope to the world.
My dear candidates, the Holy Spirit will work uniquely in each one of you.
Some of you will be called to lead. Some will be called to quiet acts of service. Some may one day be called to marriage and family life. Some may be called to priesthood or consecrated life. Some will witness to Christ in classrooms, workplaces, hospitals, farms, offices, and homes. The Holy Spirit does not erase your individuality; He perfects it. The Spirit makes your life fruitful for the Kingdom of God.
In today’s Gospel, the risen Jesus says to His disciples:
“Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you”
(John 20:21).
These words are spoken to the Church in every age. Pentecost is not simply a memory of something that happened long ago in Jerusalem. It is the living reality of the Church today. Jesus continues to send His disciples into the world. He continues to breathe His Spirit upon His people. Jesus Christ continues to raise up saints in every generation.
And so today is not only about receiving; it is also about being sent. The world desperately needs witnesses filled with hope, mercy, and joy. People are not drawn to Jesus Christ merely by arguments or words alone. They are drawn by the witness of transformed lives. They are drawn by kindness, integrity, compassion, forgiveness, fidelity, and courage. They are drawn by people who genuinely radiate the peace and love of Christ.
To live in the Holy Spirit means to become signs of God’s mercy received, God’s love cherished, and God’s life enjoyed. This witness is given in daily life: in patience with family members, in honesty at work, in compassion toward the lonely, in defending the dignity of the vulnerable, in refusing bitterness and division, in choosing hope over despair.
The Christian life is serious, yes, because love is serious. Discipleship asks much of us. Yet at its heart the Christian life is filled with joy, because it is a life of communion with God. Holiness is not a burden imposed from outside; it is the flourishing of a life lived in the Spirit. The saints were not joyless people. They were people fully alive in God.
My dear young people and candidates for Confirmation, do not be afraid to live your faith openly and generously. The Church needs your gifts. The world needs your witness. Jesus Christ calls you not to mediocrity, but to holiness. The Holy Spirit whom you receive today will strengthen you for that mission if you remain close to Christ in prayer, in the sacraments, and in the life of the Church.
And finally, on this feast of Pentecost, our gaze turns naturally to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. She was there in the upper room with the apostles as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit. She who first received the Spirit at the Annunciation now prays with the Church awaiting the birth of its mission.
Saint Pope Paul VI once said: “We need to know Mary better as the authentic and ideal model of redeemed humanity. Mary is human beauty, not only aesthetic, but essential, in synthesis with divine love, with goodness and humility” (General Audience, 30 May 1973).
What is honoured in Mary is the work of the Holy Spirit. She was filled with the Spirit and from the Spirit received her divine motherhood. In Mary we see what a human life completely open to God can become.
So today let us honour the Holy Spirit in Mary.
Let us honour the Holy Spirit in the Church, the temple through which God ministers His grace to souls. And let us honour the Holy Spirit within ourselves, for by His grace we have been elevated to the dignity of Christian life.
May Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for these forty-five candidates who will today be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. May she teach them fidelity, humility, courage, and joyful discipleship. And may all of us, renewed by the grace of Pentecost, go forth filled with the love of God, with the peace of Christ, and in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
