I would like to welcome all of you here today. I would like to especially welcome the Confirmation Class, their sponsors and families.

Last Sunday Pope John Paul II appeared at his window to deliver his sermon for the week. He called on all Catholic Christians to use this coming Ash Wednesday to pray for peace by offering the day’s fasting and abstinence as a prayer for peace.

The schedule of Masses for Ash Wednesday and the regulations for fast and abstinence are found in today’s bulletin.

Pope John Paul said that the future of mankind can never be assured by either terrorism or the logic of war.

I ask you to pray for peace at this Mass. Christians, Jews and Muslims will join at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church on Coggeshall St. tonight to pray for peace.

Who is our God in all of this? The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah tells us that our God has chosen to bond himself to us as our best friend.

What is a best friend?

Jesus is all of that for us. He has chosen to bond himself to us as a best friend in the Sacrament of Baptism.

Next Saturday at the four o’clock Mass, Monsignor Smith will anoint each of your foreheads with a special oil called Chrism. He will say, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit".

God the Father and God the Son Jesus will give you the third person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit as a gift. The Holy Spirit will be with you to help you, guide you, and strengthen you to

choose God.

Today, I will ask you candidates of Confirmation to stand and invite you in the presence of the Church to publicly choose to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. I will ask the sponsors to publicly choose to help these candidates live out the full membership in the Church which Confirmation gives. I will invite the candidates to come to the altar and make a line and for the sponsors to stand in back of them with their right hand on their left shoulder. Deacon Larry and I will put our hands on your head and pray that you will be open and deep down in your heart to choose to welcome the Holy Spirit into your lives.

May the Holy Spirit help you to choose God everyday by praying to God and coming to Mass every Sunday. May you allow the Holy Spirit to help you to choose what God wants you to do.

Beside the exciting experience of getting your learner’s permit to drive, these years in high school are exciting because you will think of what you would like to do for the rest of your lives. You can choose a job that will give you a lot of money or you can choose a job that can help many people who are poor in spirit and body. The Holy Spirit will be there to help you to choose to help God’s people.