Bishop Ricken's Message CHEYENNE – One of the great events of my year, as spring approaches,
is the great Confirmation tour that I make of the Diocese
of Cheyenne. I say it is a sheer delight, because there is nothing like the enthusiasm and high spirits of teenagers to inspire and uplift, and the light in their eyes and the dreams on their faces say something that gives the impression that the future is in very good hands. Of course, my task is to stabilize and strengthen those dreams on their faces as they take their first steps into Catholic adulthood, and bestow on them those Gifts of the Spirit so critical for their personal and spiritual lives. It is perhaps the first time that most of them have pondered seriously upon their spiritual lives and their bonds with their Creator and that is why their reception of this Sacrament should be more than a passing event for them. All that we have to do to realize this is to ponder the power and magnificence of those Gifts of the Spirit that they are sealed with and the implicit promise that goes with that sealing. What is critically important for their whole future is how seriously they prepare for the receiving of this Sacrament. Certainly they should be encouraged to make a good Confession, pondering very carefully the full meaning of the Sacrament they are receiving and how that Sacrament should influence their whole future. By this Sacrament, they are binding themselves more strongly to Jesus Christ and his sublime teaching and demands of them, a life in keeping with their Christian dignity. How do we communicate to them that by this Sacrament of Initiation, that they are being endowed with gifts, powers and infused habits that make them companions to the angels, that they will never be completely alone in the business of fashioning their futures and that the closeness to God given to them in this Sacrament makes them strong as eagles wherever the future may lead them? Those magnificent Gifts of the Spirit give them a hope and a promise that demand from them a personal commitment, conscious and deliberate, if that hope and that promise are not to remain mere words that fall from the lips of the bishop. I would recommend that each, on being confirmed, ponder very carefully and prayerfully those Gifts of the Spirit listed in the Confirmation booklet I sent to each of the parishes. The Gift of Wisdom alone provides much food for thought as these young Catholics come forward to make, for the first time perhaps, a personal commitment to Jesus Christ: “Wisdom is like a new set of eyes that helps me to see farther than before; it makes me see clearly the consequences of my actions and decisions, so that I won’t get lost in what is close at hand. It helps me not to make stupid mistakes that might ruin my future.”
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