Our call to be courageous and faithful

All of you who have been baptised have received the Holy Spirit’s first gift of himself to you.  Others of you have also been confirmed by the Bishop, and then the Holy Spirit filled your soul completely.  The Sacrament of Confirmation is something which we should look forward to with joy, and then look back on with confidence.

For one day you will have to go out into the world, not perhaps like the Apostles who went far from their homes by the Lake of Galilee into distant lands, but at any rate out to work or to college in the world outside your home.  And when that happens you must be true to Jesus and never let him down.  You may find yourselves with people who actively hate him; others will have no use for him at all.  It is then that Jesus will rely on you to be courageous and fearlessly loyal to him.

Some of you may already know what I am talking about because you have been mocked by bullies at school who know you go to church.  They put pressure on you to stop going to church, or singing in the choir or serving at the Eucharist.  They are probably jealous of you and want to control you because controlling other people makes them feel big.

But you can be brave and loyal to Jesus because at Confirmation you receive the Holy Spirit of God; and every time you make your Communion you renew the Presence of Our Ascended Lord himself within your soul, so that you can say, as did St Paul, “I can do all things through him (that is, Christ) who strengthens me” (NRSV, Philippians 4:13).