Sixth Sunday of Easter
It is likely not a surprise to anyone who attends St. Pius X Catholic School, that the principal, Mr. Kaplan, has a favorite superhero, and that superhero is Batman. That’s a fine superhero, though, as I believe the TV show “The Big Bang Theory” pointed out, he’s a rich guy who works out a lot and has a lot of cool tech-toys. So, as superheroes go, he’s not number one in my book.
Probably my favorite superhero would be Captain America. I probably like him the best because I’m Captain America before he received the Super-Serum which gave him amazing strength, stamina, and intelligence. He also has that special shield that is bullet proof and always seems to spin back to him like a boomerang. For me, I’m just too lazy to do the work to give me a chiseled body like Captain America.
I think most kids dream about being a super hero. We all want to have a special ability that sets us apart from the rest. Whether it’s Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Storm, or any one else, we want to have special gifts that allow us to do special things.
What we hear in our readings today is that those who are baptized have received a special gift. This gift doesn’t give you superhuman strength, a magical lasso, or the ability to control the weather. The special gift, the special power we might say, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Philip, in our first reading, went down to Samaria. Philip is likely the Deacon who was appointed by the apostles as one of the first seven deacons. Filled with the Holy Spirit from his baptism and his ordination, he does great signs, including curing those who were paralyzed or crippled. After Philip baptizes people in Samaria, Peter and John, the apostles, give them a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is the precursor to our celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In the Gospel, Jesus also promises to send the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. He will be another Advocate, another Person to plead their cause. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, who will remain with the Apostles even after Jesus leaves earth. The Holy Spirit will teach the Apostles all that they need to know.
The Holy Spirit, the Sprit of truth, continues to remain with the successors of the apostles. The Holy Spirit protects the pope, the prince of the apostles, and the college or group of bishops, the other successors of the apostles, from teaching the Church anything that is false when it comes to what we should believe, or how we should live. That is one exercise of special powers from the reception of the Holy Spirit.
Another exercise of special powers from the Holy Spirit is given to priests and bishops, and allows them to act in Persona Christi capitis, in the Person of Christ the Head, and allows them to exercise Jesus’ authority and power when it comes to the sacraments. It is not by my own holiness, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit that I am able to perform the miracle of changing bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.
But the special power of the Holy Spirit is not limited to the ordained. It is not only deacons, priests, and bishops who receive special powers from the Holy Spirit, but every person who is baptized and confirmed. What are those powers that all the baptized and confirmed receive?
We all have the ability to offer our lives as a priestly people (as Deacon Joe preached last week) to God the Father through Christ the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is no small power. All the baptized and confirmed have access to God and to give Him the acceptable sacrifice of their lives, united with the bread and wine at Mass, and throughout the week.
All the baptized and confirmed have the ability to avoid mortal sins, and to continue an unbroken relationship with God. Mortal sin destroys in us the theological virtue of charity, and severs us from a saving a relationship with God, which can only normally be repaired through sacramental confession. But because of our reception of the Holy Spirit, we are not doomed to fall into mortal sins. We can reject Satan and his lies and temptations, and be faithful to God throughout our lives. Fidelity to God is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we all have the ability.
And those are just two exercises of the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is confirmed has received the sevenfold gift of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Some have the gift of healing, the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in tongues, and others, which are all given for the building up of the Church.
We don’t have to be Captain America or Storm to have superpowers and to fight evil. If we are baptized and confirmed, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to fight evil and live as God called us to live.
