The Advocate

"Jesus said to His disciples: 'Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to Him and make our dwelling with Him. . .I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.' " -- [John 14:23-29].


My son recently celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation in our church.  He is a teen, on the cusp of adulthood.

As a baby, he was baptized. We say "baptized in Christ" -- because at Baptism, the child receives  God's grace, the child is infused with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and he becomes a member of the church and part of the Body of Christ.

At Confirmation, the child becomes an adult in the church. The Holy Spirit is perfected in the young adult, and the Confirmed Christian becomes a true witness of Christ.

For two years in preparation for Confirmation, my son studied, did homework, read Scriptures, performed community service hours, watched films like "God's Not Dead", read books, and wrote, from the heart about his Faith.

My son was extremely nervous about walking down that church aisle, despite all the years of preparation. But Confirmation is a PUBLIC affirmation of our Faith. That long walk down the aisle, to the altar and to the Bishop, is necessary. No, we do not hide our Faith, we celebrate it!!

When we arrived at the church, my son ran into the church, leaving us inside the car. He told us, "I want to do this myself."

My heart sank. I loved that he would possess the independent Faith to celebrate this sacrament with his sponsor, without us. But I was thinking about all the amazing Catholic women in my life who came before me -- my Irish Nana, my Irish mother-in-law, my dearest best Catholic girlfriend who passed away, way too young. I felt that all were in Heaven looking down upon my son. All I wanted was to be a silent observer of his sacrament into adulthood in the church. So I prayed to these women, and to God.

Suddenly, my son emerged from the church. He strode towards us, wearing a long flowing red robe, with a cross seal on his left chest. I had never witnessed him like that. He was positively glowing.

He came and told us, "I changed my mind. I want you to come into the church." I looked heavenward. Thank you, God.

My husband looked over at our son, and said, "What is WRONG with that tree, that he is standing in front of?" I looked over. It was a sycamore, the branches all gnarly, the bark characteristically peeling in shades of brown and tan.

I said, "O my my Lord! That is SO Biblical!!"

I took a photo of our son in front of that tree -- for posterity.

Now, the director of religious education told me that, during Confirmation, the Holy Spirit completely takes over. I went into that church and we watched him glide down the aisle.

He went first up to the altar, of all the Confirmants. The Holy Spirit was good to him, his anxiety was eased by receiving the sacrament first.

When we went home, I went straight to Scripture. You see, my son had chosen "Matthew" for his Confirmation name. Matthew was a former tax collector who converted his sinful ways, and became a great Apostle.

And the sycamore tree figured prominently in the story of Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector. -[Luke 19:1-10]. When Jesus entered Jericho, Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was short, so he climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view. When Jesus saw him, He said to Zacchaeus, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today." The crowd muttered that Jesus was going to be the guest of a sinner. But, Jesus said, "Today, salvation has come to this house. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

And that is how I knew that in Confirmation, my son HAD fully received the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

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