“In confirmation, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Your body doesn’t feel it, but your soul does. It is touched by the Holy Spirit,” Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries, OSB shared those words with the confirmandi during a pair of liturgies in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
Bishop Gries celebrated Masses on April 7 and April 28, confirming about 173 people total. It was standing room only at the second liturgy, where about 124 people were confirmed.
Parishes represented at the April 7 liturgy were St. Michael the Archangel, St. Patrick (Bridge), Our Lady of Mount Carmel (West), St. Rocco, Sagrada Familia, the cathedral, St. Colman, St. Andrew Kim and St. Boniface, all in Cleveland, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Columbia Station.
At the April 28 liturgy, parishes included were St. Patrick, Wellington; St. Adalbert, Berea; St. Augustine, Barberton; SS. Peter and Paul, Doylestown; St. Jerome, Cleveland; St. Aloysius-St. Agatha, Cleveland; SS. Robert and William, St. John of the Cross and Our Lady of the Lake, all in Euclid; St. Clare, Lyndhurst and Sacred Heart of Jesus, South Euclid.
Parishes could opt to be part of a diocesan confirmation liturgy if they had a small number of confirmandi.
The bishop spoke to the confirmandi at each liturgy, reminding them that we believe and have faith, even if we can’t (or don’t) see everything we believe in. “St. Faustina believed,” he said, adding that she told people to “Trust in Jesus.”
At the Annunciation, the angel told Mary that God wanted her to be the mother of his Son. She asked, “How?” and placed her trust in God when she said “yes” to his request.
“God was born just like each of us, except he was fully God and fully human,” Bishop Gries said. “The moment we are conceived, God breathes life into us: our soul. Our body is a temple that grows around our soul and our soul is touched by God at the moment of conception. It is also touched by God at baptism.”
Then, at confirmation, we are touched by the Holy Spirit.
“Today, as you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, it will be a guide in your life,” the bishop said. “The Holy Spirit uses GPS – God’s positioning system – to guide us and to help us get to God.” At the end of our lives, he said our bodies will turn to dust, but our souls will remain with God.
“Today, God is strengthening your souls and nourishing your body with his body, blood, soul and divinity. We don’t see it, but we believe – like the apostle Thomas,” he added.
Bishop Gries said as each person being confirmed comes forward, he would “seal” them by marking their forehead with sacred chrism. Jesus, who was with them at their baptism, would also be with them at confirmation.
“God is good all the time, and all the time God is good,” he said.
Concelebrants for the April 7 confirmation included Father Mark Dao Quoc Minh, Father Mark Riley, Father Michael Gurnick, Father Sean Ralph and Father James Mayer, O de M.
At the April 28 liturgy, concelebrants included Father David Trask, Father David Majikas, Father Peter Morris, Father Anthony Simone, Father John Betters, Father Joseph Brankatelli, Father Stanley Klasinski and Father John Seabold.
After each celebration, Bishop Gries greeted the newly confirmed, their sponsors and families and posed for photos with many of them.