June 7, 2020 COVID-19 Faith Reflection—Trinity Sunday
Saturday morning, I stood in for Bishop Noonan. In normal times once a year, Bishop Noonan comes to Nativity to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. During this coronavirus pandemic, Bishop Noonan has delegated to me the responsibility to confirm.
The first of three separate Confirmation liturgies for our forty-five candidates with families and guests was Saturday, June 6 during the 8:30 a.m. morning Mass. I told the ten candidates present how I went Friday morning on a walk.
It was not a walk with my dog Maxie. It was a walk with about a thousand people. Churches in Orlando and many clergy gathered for a Walk of Mourning and Rehabilitation starting at Camping World Stadium. We walked on Church Street in silence and prayer. They read the names of George Floyd and others killed by racism. The organizers read psalms of lament such as Psalm 79:9.
Help us, God our savior,
on account of the glory of your name.
Deliver us, pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.
I told the candidates for Confirmation that there were no signs, no chants, no angry words, and no symbols of defiance. It was not a march or protest. Everyone wore facemasks and kept social distance. Sheriff deputies walked respectfully with us.
The walk ended at Division Street, the dividing line for decades between black Orlando and white Orlando. Speakers added more prayers. They spoke against violence and racism. They spoke for the reconciliation that comes from God.
I told the candidates these things because in the Sacrament of Confirmation they are confirmed as witnesses to the world. The same Spirit poured out on the Apostles at that first Pentecost is poured upon them in the Sacrament of Confirmation to bring to perfection God’s work in the world. We are witnesses of these things.
Having received the Holy Spirit, we cannot remain armchair Christians anymore than we can be armchair brothers and sisters to one another. Silence is compliance.
The witnesses of the Church through the ages, officially known as martyrs, gave witness in word and deed to the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we have received the gifts of the Spirit to give witness with them before the world.
I was disappointed at the walk in only one thing—the absence of Catholics. Understandably, the event was not well-publicized beyond the downtown churches. Bishop Noonan was there. Father Leo Hodges from St. Andrews Catholic Church was there. My dad wearing his Knights of Columbus cap was there.
We have state elections in August and the general election in November. These are opportunities to go beyond thoughts and prayers. They are opportunities to live out the Sacrament of Confirmation and give witness before the world to our God of love, mercy, and justice. We participate in politics in order to love our neighbor as Christ commanded.
Turn off the media and its sound bytes for today. Take one hour to read and reflect on our bishops’ most recent pastoral letter against racism, “Open Wide Our Hearts.” Their pastoral letter challenges people of good conscience never to turn a blind eye when citizens are being deprived of their human dignity and even their lives. Indifference is not an option. Our bishops unequivocally state that racism, like abortion, is a life issue.
http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/racism/upload/open-wide-our-hearts.pdf.
This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. It highlights that all things in heaven and earth are meant to share in the blessed life of the God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are meant for communion with God!
Our one God in three Persons has won the victory over sin including racism that separates us from him. We are witnesses of these things.
In Christ,
Father David