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Bishop's Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 3, 2025

(wideonet / Shutterstock.com)

Homily of Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Papaikou (Confirmation & First Communion)]

This is a wonderful day for all of you who are going to receive Confirmation and First Holy Communion.  You are dressed in special clothes, and even if some of you can hardly wait to change back to your regular clothes, you know these special clothes indicate that something very special is happening.  It’s special that the bishop is here, and maybe you have never seen one of these creatures before! Afterwards you will probably receive special gifts: rosaries, prayer books, medals – maybe even some money.  Maybe you will even have a special meal of your favorite foods.  But I hope these are not the things you will remember about this day, because all of these things will fade away.  Jesus reminds us today to focus not on what is vanity and what will not last but on what will last.

What will last is the major gift you will be given today, the physical embrace of God’s love.  First of all, God the Holy Spirit will fill you in the sacrament of Confirmation.  You will be sealed, marked, branded, if you will, by an invisible mark that says you belong to God and God lives in you.  This little anointing on your forehead with Sacred Chrism is God’s way of kissing you, and letting you know how much he loves you and wants you to be his disciple.  You may forget the day, the place, or even the minister of Confirmation, but never forget to enjoy this gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and enlighten you every day of your life.

Then you will be given another unbelievable gift.  Jesus Christ himself, who died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, is the living bread come down from heaven who will feed you today for the first time with the very gift of himself.  This is because he loves you so much that he wants to live in you and to be present wherever you go.  You are not just going to receive special bread and special wine today, no!  You are going to receive the Body and Blood of the risen Lord Jesus himself!  He is going to be in you so that he can go wherever you go.

Jesus wants to live in your house, and he will do so when you are there, sharing his love, his forgiveness and his service with your family.  Jesus wants to be at your school, and he will be there when you, in his Name, reach out to your classmates who are struggling with studies, or with illnesses or disabilities, or with bullying.  You can bring them the healing and hope of Jesus, because Jesus will be in you.  Jesus wants to be on your sports team, in your dance classes, and everywhere you go, and because he is in you, he can be there through you.

These encounters with God are the great treasures we hope you remember to celebrate today.  All the other things and experiences of this day will soon fade away.  We know that the things of this life can easily be lost.  Just this week, we almost had a tsunami, which could have washed away our homes, our possessions, and even our loved ones.  Two years ago in Maui, many people lost everything they owned in a devastating wildfire.  These things are passing, “vanity of vanities” as the Scriptures say, since we often place so much of ourselves into these things that will fade away.

But the love of God you receive today cannot fade away unless you allow it to do so by letting these other passing things choke it out of awareness.  Or, it can fade away if you horde it for yourself rather than share this love with others, because the more you give it away, the more you will have for yourself.  That is God’s way.  He gives himself completely to us, and when he does he increases love itself.  Now you will have the privilege and the means not only to experience this wonderful gift of God’s love, but to share it more powerfully with all you meet!