Someone once told me that salvation history can be boiled down to a simple understanding of the roles of each of the members of the Holy Trinity, revealed in Scripture: the Old Testament reveals the age of God the Father and His relationship to the chosen people, the Jews; the New Testament reveals the age of God the Son and His relationship to the Jews and Gentiles (eventually called Christians) who accept Him as Redeemer; the present age, which will continue until the end, is the age of God the Holy Spirit and His relationship to the “Church” in bringing about the Kingdom of God.
If this “macro” understanding is accurate, we are now living in the age of the Holy Spirit. I write this because I am a catechist, and this year I am teaching 8th graders in preparation for their Confirmation. So the Holy Spirit is on my mind.
Consequently, in my morning recent perusal of the online articles in the National Catholic Register, one entitled Clarifying Certain Misunderstandings about Confirmation caught my eye. It was written by Msgr. Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington (the area around our nation’s capitol). It is very insightful, and I suggest you read it, especially if you are the parent of a confirmand (‘tis the season…)
I am not going to get into all that Monsignor discusses – but I wanted to focus on one quote he highlights from Our Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture (John 16:7) –
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you….I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
This quote is a fascinating one to ponder regarding the importance of the Church in the world. In the afore mentioned article, the Monsignor says the sacrament is not really about maturity and becoming an “adult” in the Church, or claiming the faith as one’s own, or about making a person a “full Catholic,” but it really much more than this. However, I think these points are quite relevant to the sacrament.
In my diocese the sacrament is received by young people in the 8th and/or 9th grades, and I think it is important for these youngsters to understand the significance of the Church of which they are a part, and to claim some ownership in the Church’s mission. Having been teaching them for seven months now, and listening to their questions, I realize how they struggle to see the importance of faith and their participation in the life of the Church. They are greatly influenced by our present culture, and in our day in age, the relevance of the Church (any church for that matter) is greatly under attack.
But the words of Christ from this passage from the gospel of St. John, at least to me, seem very clear. We, as Catholics, believe our Church is guided by the Holy Spirit, who leads us to “all truth.” Considering the divergent opinions of what is “truth,” even among the plethora of Christian churches out there, if Christ is to be believed, one of those churches has the Truth.
I think it is pretty obvious which of these churches is standing strong and unwavering against the tide of opinions that seem to change with the whim of the age on issues of huge import, including who has “Authority,” and on the sacredness of human life, the sacrament of marriage, the meaning of human sexuality and the significance of the family – to name only a few.
I’m betting on the Catholic Church, and my goal is to impart this understanding to my students.
