the strength to do what is right

JMJ

AMDG

This is more or less the short talk I gave at my parish's Confirmation retreat last week. Except neater and better thought out because I'm not holding a microphone and standing in front of a bunch of people.

***

I was confirmed five years ago, and I was a little bit of a disaster. As I walked up the steps to the altar, all I could think was "please God, don't make me speak in tongues or do anything crazy."

Since the point of Confirmation is to bring us to God and allow us to do His will more clearly, this fear and reluctance was not the best attitude to have.

So I was confirmed, and life went on.

I've always been Catholic, always knew about Jesus, but it took me a long time to start letting God into my life. I was afraid that He'd ask me to do something too big for me, something that would crush me and make me miserable.

Eventually, I realized that I was miserable; that I do need God, and so I started letting Him love me and accepting His gifts for what they are.

The thing about gifts is that you don't have to like them. We probably all have the weird sweater from our grandmother, or its equivalent, and it sits balled up in the back of a closet or drawer. We also have received things we love, things we take delight in.

The thing about gifts is you get a choice whether or not to use them.

It's the same with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At your confirmation, you are given all these gifts. 

And basically what I did was toss them all in a corner like "nope, maybe later." I was afraid. I was afraid of what God might want of me if I handed everything over to Him. I was afraid I wouldn't be strong enough.

That is absolutely not true. 

At confirmation, you are given seven gifts. One of these is fortitude, which is the strength to live out the Faith. It's the strength to stand up for what is right even when no one else is, and it's also the strength to trust God even when nothing seems like it will work and everything looks pointless. It's the guts to do whatever God may be calling you to and the heart to carry that out.

At confirmation, you get superpowers. Now, Captain America--he's got superpowers. He's got super-strength, sort of like fortitude. Now, he could choose not to be heroic. He could choose to just be a super-buff guy who lives in somebody's basement and plays video games and eats Cheetos all day, but he doesn't, and it would be stupid if he did. He has the strength to save people, and so he does.

And you--at confirmation, you are given the strength to live for God, to bring Him glory in a way no one else has done before. 

He will give you the fortitude to face whatever it is you end up facing on this earth. 

All you have to do is let Him help you.