Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale548

The Church also needs this renewal! She needs your faith, your idealism

and your generosity, so that she can always be young in the Spirit! 9 In

today's second reading, the Apostle Paul reminds us that each and every

Christian has received a gift meant for building up the Body of Christ. The

Church especially needs the gifts of young people, all young people. She needs

to grow in the power of the Spirit who even now gives joy to your youth and

inspires you to serve the Lord with gladness. Open your hearts to that power!

I address this plea in a special way to those of you whom the Lord is calling

to the priesthood and the consecrated life. Do not be afraid to say "yes" to

Jesus, to find your joy in doing his will, giving yourself completely to the

pursuit of holiness, and using all your talents in the service of others!

In a few moments, we will celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation. The

Holy Spirit will descend upon the confirmands; they will be "sealed" with the

gift of the Spirit and sent forth to be Christ's witnesses. What does it mean to

receive the "seal" of the Holy Spirit? It means being indelibly marked, in-

alterably changed, a new creation. For those who have received this gift,

nothing can ever be the same! Being "baptized" in the one Spirit 10 means

being set on fire with the love of God. Being "given to drink" of the Spirit

means being refreshed by the beauty of the Lord's plan for us and for the

world, and becoming in turn a source of spiritual refreshment for others.

Being "sealed with the Spirit" means not being afraid to stand up for Christ,

letting the truth of the Gospel permeate the way we see, think and act, as we

work for the triumph of the civilization of love.

As we pray for the confirmands, let us ask that the power of the Holy

Spirit will revive the grace of our own Confirmation. May he pour out his gifts

in abundance on all present, on this city of Sydney, on this land of Australia

and on all its people! May each of us be renewed in the spirit of wisdom and

understanding, the spirit of right judgement and courage, the spirit of knowl-

edge and reverence, the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence!

Through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, may this

Twenty-third World Youth Day be experienced as a new Upper Room, from

which all of us, burning with the fire and love of the Holy Spirit, go forth to

proclaim the Risen Christ and to draw every heart to him! Amen.

9 Cfr Lumen Gentium, 4. 10 Cfr 1 Cor 12:13.