Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Sacrament of Confirmation

April 28, 2024
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Windthorst, Texas

Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
I John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8

The Acts of the Apostles tells us today about Saint Paul’s entry into the Church. Three years after the Lord had appeared to him on the road to Damascus, Paul presented himself to the disciples in Jerusalem. But his reputation as Saul the enemy of the Church had preceded him, and the leaders had trouble believing that he had changed from persecuting the Church to being its defender.

Barnabas, who had proven himself to be trustworthy, spoke on behalf of Paul. He confirmed that Paul really had changed and went on to praise Paul’s work of proclaiming Christ’s’ Resurrection. Only with the help, guidance, and support of Barnabas was Paul accepted by the community of the Church. But even as a believer, Saint Paul continued to be controversial — probably since he was so firm and outspoken about what he believed. We are told that he got into some heated debates with the Greek-speaking Jews, and finally had to be rushed away to Tarsus to avoid being killed. He remained there until he discerned his call to be the Apostle to the Gentiles.

The most significant character in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles and on this occasion of your Confirmation might not be Paul but rather Barnabas. We know about Paul’s colorful character: his dramatic call and conversion, his eloquent and heroic preaching, his courageous martyrdom. What we might overlook is the role of Barnabas: how he patiently defended Paul to the disciples and faithfully accompanied him on his journeys.

As today’s disciples, we must not forget that Jesus is the true vine and that each of us must stay connected not only to Jesus but also to other disciples to have life as a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. The Church is indispensable for our salvation. Barnabas truly exemplifies and bears witness to this unity of the Church with Christ as the Vine. He recognizes and trusts in the action of Christ in calling Paul to conversion; he risks himself in being a sponsor for Paul and the advocates for the authenticity of his conversion and discipleship. In so doing, Barnabas reminds the Apostles of their own reliance on Christ for the unity of the Church that they are called to lead through service.

Unlike the other disciples, Barnabas was initially willing to see something in Paul that made him put his own reputation on the line. He saw the face of Christ and the work and presence of the Holy Spirit in him. In a sense, Barnabas acted on behalf of Paul just as your sponsors are acting on your behalf in the celebration of this sacrament. Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement,” is imbued with the humble confidence spoken of in the second reading taken from the First Epistle of John. Barnabas keeps God’s commandment to “believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us. Those who keep His commandments by loving God and our neighbor as He taught us remain in Him, and He in them, and the way we know that He remains in us is from the Holy Spirit He gave us.”

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles proclaims, “The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.” To believe in the name of Jesus is to hope in Christ’s power to save us even from those who hate and persecute us. Barnabas vouches for Paul not because he sees Paul to be perfect. Barnabas vouches for Paul not only because Barnabas has faith. Barnabas vouches for Paul because Barnabas knows that Christ has saved him, and he has hope and the fear of the Lord to see that Christ is saving Paul and bringing him to authentic conversion.

The ideology of Christian fundamentalism proposes that faith alone in the merits of Christ is all that is necessary to offer us assurance of our salvation. This approach can be absent of joy and frequently can lead us to reduce the intimate relationship of friendship that God offers us in Christ to become a focus only upon ourselves, whereby God is treated as useful for our own purposes. We end up either being tempted to despair or to be presumptuous of God’s mercy. In response to this, the Church clearly teaches that faith without hope cannot offer us a share in God’s life because hope is what links faith to charity, and this brings us joy. We cannot love God or others without hope in His power to save us and others, including those who persecute us.

The Holy Spirit’s gift of the Fear of the Lord is at the heart of Barnabas’ willingness to sponsor Paul, and it is at the heart of the Church’s acceptance and forgiveness of Paul. It is also at the heart of your own sponsors’ willingness to present you for the Sacrament of Confirmation. To have the Holy Spirit’s gift of the Fear of the Lord, as Barnabas exemplifies, is not to be anxious. Barnabas exemplifies the fear of the Lord because he is attentive not to destroy the love of God on which our Christian life is based. Fear of the Lord is the sense that we are accountable to God, and we do not want to fail Him because He loves us, and we are designed to love Him in return.

The Fear of the Lord is the deeply held recognition that accompanies the hope that God can and will save us from sin and from other calamities. It is this recognition that can only be accompanied by the recognition that we are powerless to save ourselves, which disposes us to trust in God’s power to change us, and His willingness to save us prompts within us a spirit of joy. This is what you will give witness to in our contemporary world — so tortured by war, anger, and discord among people in our society and even in the Church, it requires you to have hope in God’s willingness to save everybody in Christ as He has saved you and to trust in His power to do so as you receive the power of the Holy Spirit through this Sacrament of Confirmation.