15 November 2015, 33rd Sunday in ordinary time

Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

Today, we are celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Chapel of Umeda Church.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is given to those who are already baptized. Confirmation is the sacrament which perfects baptismal grace. It is the sacrament which gives us the seven spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, and the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God’s presence. You are going to receive these spiritual gifts through the anointing with chrism on the forehead, by the laying on of hands, and through the words: Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will bring you closer to Christ, strengthen your bond with the Church and will make you more ready to be part of the mission of the Church. When you receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, you will be gifted with the special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and proclaim the name of Christ boldly as apostles.

Dear friends,
Today we also celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter. The Gospel just now proclaimed is from chapter 10 of John.
The theme is: ”Jesus is our good shepherd.”
Really Jesus is our good shepherd. He says that he knows his own sheep. Jesus knows everyone of us and he always protects us and leads us to the spring of eternal life. Although we cannot see the Risen Christ with our own eyes, we know and believe that the Risen Christ is always with us, he always stays in our church by means of the mission of the Holy Spirit.

Really Jesus is our good shepherd. He laid down his life for his sheep. The death on the Cross shows us his tremendous love to give each one of us eternal life.

So let us meditate on this deep love, this merciful love, this generous but powerful love of the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.