Advent Week 2: One Gift, One Door and Three Ways
On the 2nd Sunday of Advent, the church witnessed 31 teens receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. Fr. Dom the presider, addressed the confirmands saying that they are ambassadors of Jesus. He asked them to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit in their mission.
In his homily, Fr. Dom explained that everyone receives One Gift – the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 3). The disciples went to the upper room and prayed; they were then filled with Holy Spirit and began to preach courageously. Likewise, he urged the confirmands to be open to the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Dom further explained that God gives us a door of freedom- freedom to choose. Every choice we make affects our lives. We can choose love and move closer to God or choose against love and be far from God. The choices we make can lead us to destruction or give us life. God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to eat all the fruits of the garden except one. Yet they chose the forbidden fruit and hid from God. Our choices lead us toward God or away from God- so choose wisely.
There are three ways which can help us walk through this door of freedom, said Fr. Dom. The first is faith (Rom 10: 17). He said faith comes from listening and that is why every week the scriptures are read. People repented after hearing John the Baptist preach. Fr. Dom asked the confirmands to listen with their hearts. 2nd is to be hopeful in God. Do not give up. 3rd is ‘charity’ which is faith in action. It is to bear fruits according to your abilities (Mat 3: 8). “Do what you can in the present moment.”
At the end of the celebration, Johnathan James Theseira represented the confirmands and thanked the teachers and congregation for guiding them through the years.
Kindly download the photos from the links below. They are only available until the end of January.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C8xc85CO2LbPkx6QL4ZV7EKnbR3aCFHH?usp=share_link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AxAJ74xDfMQlRk2-H9xzRbvc5D8P7rEV