May peace fill every human heart and spread to all parts of the world
By Bishop Mark Beckman
One of the great joys of springtime for a bishop is the opportunity to journey about the diocese and celebrate the sacrament of confirmation for our young people.
Here in East Tennessee as I have journeyed from parish to parish, the unfolding of springtime in the mountains has been breathtaking to behold, but even more so has been the joy on the faces of our young people who are receiving the sealing of the Holy Spirit in confirmation.
Our parishes are vibrant, growing Christian communities where the Spirit of God is alive and well!
Whenever confirmation is celebrated, I am reminded of two key moments in the ministry of Jesus. The first is narrated in the Gospel of Luke about His arrival in His hometown of Nazareth, where He goes to the synagogue and finds the place in Isaiah the prophet to announce the very purpose of His mission.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. … Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in Your hearing (Luke 4:18-19, 21).”
The entire Gospel of Luke reveals the Holy Spirit deeply and powerfully at work in and through Jesus. The oppressed are indeed set free, the blind given new eyes to see, the poor lifted up and embraced, those in need of healing restored to wholeness. The great work of God’s kingdom is all about the healing of the whole human person—body, mind, soul, and spirit!
The second key moment I am reminded of during confirmation is narrated in the Gospel of John as the Risen Lord appears to the disciples behind locked doors on the evening of Easter Sunday. “Peace be with you!” He proclaims to disciples still in the grip of fear and shame. His very presence brings joy. “Peace be with you!” He announces a second time. “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! (cf. John 20:20-22).”
This key moment of the giving of the Spirit is accompanied by the profound peace that comes from God alone. Pope Leo XIV quoted these words of Jesus when he was first elected as the successor of St. Peter the Apostle: “Peace be with you!” He prayed that the peace of Christ would indeed fill every human heart and spread to all parts of the world.
Pope Leo has been in his first year an untiring advocate for this peace during a time of great conflict and turmoil in our world. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he reminds us.
Immediately after our young people are marked by sacred chrism in the sign of the cross on their foreheads and hear the words “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit,” the bishop speaks the words of the Risen Lord to them: “Peace be with you!” For all of us who have been claimed by God as beloved sons and daughters in the sacrament of baptism and sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, we, too, must bear the peace of Christ to the world.
Christians are called to be peacemakers by the Prince of Peace Himself. As Jesus was sent by the Father, so now we are sent by Him into this world in our own time and place. At every Eucharist we celebrate, the priest prays: “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days…” and immediately following reminds us “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, My peace I give you….”
May this peace reign in our hearts that we may be free from turmoil and disorder; may we work diligently to build peace in our families and communities; may we be tireless advocates for peace with those who have been elected to public office; and may we ardently pray for the peace of Christ throughout the world.