Ep. 10 - Holy Spirit

In this episode we talk about our experience of Confirmation as well as how we've seen the sacrament in our own lives.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Hi everyone, welcome to Blazing Hearts Podcast, where we talk about our Catholic faith and living our life to the fullest. I'm Michael.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

And I'm Emily.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

And today we are going to be talking about the Holy Spirit, both through the sacrament of confirmation and also through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, kind of what that sacrament gives us. So what we're going to start with is our experience of confirmation. So Emily, how was your what was your experience of confirmation like?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

I really enjoyed my confirmation. It was like I guess it was I felt kind of underwhelming, if I'm being so honest. But I also like enjoyed it at the same time. So my youth minister Joe had texted me like maybe two days before, or maybe the day before. I don't know. And he was like, it was me and Andrew Guam. We had texted, and he was like, You guys are gonna do the readings for math because I said so. I was like, okay, great. So it was fine because I like have lectured many times before. Just a little bit scary because it was all like the people from my school who you know were like judging me, or just like it was just a little bit nerve-wracking more than usual. And so then I read and it's fine. And then I was the second person to get confirmed. And it was just like like the actual confirmation, like when I went up there and then got like the chrism on my head, that was like the part that's kind of underwhelming. But also it was just like joyful, if that makes sense. Like it's not like your first communion where you have to like prepare and do all these giant things. Like, yes, you do prepare, but also it wasn't as like extravagant, I guess. But it was still just like very like good time, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, and you got confirmed high school, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah, in tenth grade.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Oh, interesting. Yeah, so my confirmation experience is actually a little different and also kind of similar. So I actually also lectured at mine, even but actually I wasn't like in like on the inside, I wasn't super Catholic in the sense of like I wasn't personally living out my faith. I mean, it looked like I was obviously I was like lecture, I was at all these things, but at that time of my confirmation, I didn't really feel like like inside I necessarily like was super faithful. So I think that was a really interesting experience for me because I would probably say confirmation was kind of the kicking off point for that, for like my conversion to kind of where I am today. But it's also really interesting because I would also say that my confirmation experience was kind of similar to yours, kind of underwhelming, and yeah, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was just one of those things where I wish I could redo it a little bit because I definitely wasn't necessarily as attuned to it as I would be today. And that's not a bad thing, obviously. Great things have come from that, but I think that just change has been really interesting because I've actually been able to kind of see how the spirit has worked through me after confirmation. But yeah, what's also it's also been interesting because I've served I think every confirmation since my seventh grade year, so I've been at every confirmation at my home parish for the past four years. So it's kind of been cool to go through those and kind of see confirmations every year. But yeah, it's confirmed in eighth grade. Okay, then yeah. But yeah, I'd definitely say even though I didn't necessarily feel it at the time, looking back at confirmation, I can definitely see the effects of the sacrament. And I think that's been such a blessing for me is as I've to like a fuller expression, to more fully live out my faith, I've definitely noticed the effects of confirmation way more than I necessarily.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah, I have to agree with that statement.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah, and I think some of those effects of confirmation through what confirmation seals in us, and that's the Holy Spirit. So I think that's what we're gonna spend a majority of this episode talking about is these gifts of the Holy Spirit, kind of how you know we hear about these so much, maybe in when you were confirmed, like your confirmation, education, formation, you hear so much about these, but how do you use those and what do they mean in your everyday life?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yeah. The first one is wisdom, which is like knowledge and like judgment of like more divine things that like can be applied to your everyday life.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah, so you know knowing about God and being able to kind of take what you know and these understandings about God, and definitely, like you said, apply these to your everyday life. The St. Thomas Quinas in the Summa talks about having the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth. And I just think that's kind of like alright, we take what we know about God, and we have to apply that. What does it mean to have a God who is all powerful, all good, all loving in our everyday life?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

And then I think these all really connect to each other, but the one that kind of connects on the other side of wisdom, the more like divine side of wisdom, is like understanding and being able to kind of know and see God more. And I think I want to spend a little bit of time on this one because that's something that's changed a lot in my life, is just being aware of God's presence, kind of you know, understanding where he is, how he works. So, do you have any kind of experiences with moments where you felt like you kind of saw God in like his like what the nature of God?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Yeah, I think I guess really just like through prayer in like the understanding. Wait, no, that's the wrong thing. But I do have experiences that understanding. Um, I was creating my wrong note, but I think just like in the fact that I'm a sinner and I like continue to sin. Obviously, I try not to, but I'm human. So I'm a little sin. Um but then just like like going to the Lord and like him just looking at me with so much mercy and saying, like, well, I'm just glad that you came home. Like I really, I don't really obviously cares that we sin, but he's not basing his love for me off of my sins. And he's just happy that like I come home. Like there was this one time it was this past March. Yeah, March. And it was our spring retreat for our church, and the people on planning team are supposed to go to confession before retreat because we're not always guaranteed that we'll have time for us because we want the teams on the retreat to have priority. And I just remember I came from practice and my practice ends at 7.30, and my prayer starts at 7. And I was so stressed, I was like rushing, I was panicking that I wasn't gonna make it because it ended at 7.30, and I got out of like I got out of practice at like 7.15. I was like, oh shoot, like I need to go. So I was like rushing from my school to the church and then from like the parking lot into the church, and I had to change still because I was like in on like my like wet practice here because it was raining that day, and so I like changed really fast. I ran into the church, and I was like, okay, like I just need to go see if I'm elliptic, and I'll be okay. So then I got a spot in his line, and I do cry a lot, but usually I don't cry before confession, it's usually during confession that I cry, but I literally just like went into the church because it was adoration, like while the confession was going on. And I went to the church and I like walked around the church because of the side I came in, it was like on the other side was where Father Leptech was. And I walk around and I sit down and I literally just looked at Jesus and I started bawling my eyes out, like even before I got to the confessional. And then I went into confession and I was telling Father Leptek like how overwhelmed I was. I was like, I have to do this, this, this, this, this, like literally just lifting everything off. And I remember looking at the ground as I was saying all of it, and I looked up and just this like tenderness and warmth and just like love that was in his eyes. I was like, oh my gosh, like it's okay, because that's like how the Lord looks at me, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I definitely love to do a deeper dive into confession at some point. I definitely think that's like understanding where you know God is, how God works and you know the nature of God. But I think kind of the other side of wisdom that we get is the idea of you know knowledge, and I'll put fortitude in this, even though some people might disagree. So knowledge is sometimes called right judgment, the ability to discern between good and evil, and then fortitude is uh the ability to put this into action, to live your faith courageously and boldly. And I think both of those are I mean all of these gifts are important. I think fortitude is something that's really important, especially for high schoolers. So all of you high schoolers listening. I think fortitude can be is a really important gift to focus on because in our modern world, I'm kind of facing this off a hotly I heard yesterday, just for fun. But our world kind of shows us like all these different ways to live, often those that can seem easier than our Catholic faith. And I think what's important and that what knowledge and fortitude can offer is this insight into yes, these ways might seem easier, these ways of living, but they're not what's best, they're not what's necessarily good for the soul. And I think that's what is really important, and it's important for people of all ages to know that, and it's like alright to be able to discern between good and evil, and then to actually hold your ground, and we don't always, and that's okay, that's why confession exists, and another reason why we need to do an episode on confession, but just these two working together to help us defend ourselves against evil.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Yeah, I think another one that really goes along with that, and like the aspect of knowing like what's right and wrong is like discerning the Lord's voice, maybe from the enemy's voice or like from our own voice, which would be like counsel and like being open to like what the Lord wants for you and what he wants to do in your life. But we actually can't like know that unless we like spend time in prayer with him and actually listen to his voice.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Yeah, definitely. And I think counsel is another one too, where you might not feel you know, like think back, think back to your confirmation. You don't necessarily like feel like oh my gosh, I know everything about God, or like, oh, I suddenly wildly hear like God's voice speaking to me, like Morgan Freeman's deep booming voice. But what these do what these gifts do offer through the Holy Spirit is this chance to develop and learn. And I think counsel is one of those that really does need to be developed, and it's a learned skill, but it's very important and critical for our faith life. So I think you you made a really good point about learning counsel through our prayer lives.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, and like you said, it's like something that needs to be practiced. Like, I wasn't always good at hearing the Lord's voice, but if you just like stay with him and like again, like practice and try to do it, it gets better.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, to be honest, I'm still not good at it, but we're learning how we're learning how me either. Yeah, so we've hit five out of the seven. The seventh okay, fine, I'll do it. The sixth and seventh gifts of the Holy Spirit are piety and fear of the Lord, and these two really kind of go hand in hand. Piety first is this sense of reverence for God, and this you know, how we worship him, how we worship him well, and kind of revering him and doing our due duty to God. Well, whereas fear of the Lord is this fear not necessarily of punishment, but of understanding that because God is all good and all powerful and all-loving, that it is not good for our souls to be separated from him. So it's to have this fear of being separated from him in the sense that to like it is better for us to be with him than separated, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah, definitely. Another way I've also heard it put is just like being in awe of the Lord, like recognizing that you're so small that you like need the Lord, which like is what you're saying, like you don't wish to be separated from him.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, that's where the other name of your the Lord is is wonder and awe. But honestly, as I was looking at these, I kind of wanted to focus on piety because I feel like it's one of it's it's probably the gift that I realize probably comes out the most in me. I'd like to think that way, but you know, because I find such an appreciation for the rubrics of the church. You probably heard this a bit in our Easter Vigil episode, you know, talking so much about you know the rubrics, why the church does this or this, and I think piety comes from that, is like, you know, I have this love for you know, I guess the right way of serving God through the church, and I think that's where this gift really comes out in my life, is like I have this desire to serve God, and I think that's something that's really cool about the Catholic faith is it gives us not only these like ways to serve God that have been you know part of tradition, but there's so many ways to worship and reverence God, and I think that's a really cool part of our faith.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Yeah, I would agree. I can also attest that that does come out in your life, just so you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

You're welcome. No, but I agree, like it's it's really cool, I think, to think that like one, like the tradition of our faith has been around for so long, and there's so much like that goes into it, I guess, of like why we do this, how we do this, like the reasons we do it, and just like everything behind it.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so we're recording this May 1st and May 2nd. I am going to be going to an ordination for Zach, who you've heard on this podcast before.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Wait, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

So that's gonna be a ton of fun, but I think it's moments like this these sacraments, confirmation is another one of them, which I'll talk about in a minute, where we really see like the depth of and the tradition of the church. Confirmation itself dates back to Pentecost, and you see the traditions of anointing, anointing a priest, prophet, and king, and being anointed for mission, similar to how the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles 2,000 years ago at Pentecost and kind of started our faith. So I think that's something that's so cool about our faith and what really piety, the gift of piety brings about.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Yeah, I agree. And like kind of how you're saying with like going to the whoa, that was not a word, the ordination tomorrow. I like feel the same way when I get to just like watch all the people on Easter get confirmed and baptized and just everything.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Absolutely. Uh, did you go to the Easter Vigil this year?

SPEAKER_00 18:53

I did. I saw some of my friends become Catholic.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah, it was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yeah, that's awesome. Emily unfortunately lives about 40 minutes away from me, so we did not go to the same Easter Vigil, and she was not on our Easter True to him episode.

unknown 19:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

But what I actually didn't mention there is I was a sponsor and I'm now a godparent at the young at the young age of 17.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Wait, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Yeah, so it was really cool to have that experience of not only you know seeing all these people come into the church, but standing before the church and you know, saying I think that this is a good candidate for baptism and confirmation. And I think that was kind of a really cool experience for me. It's the second person I've sponsored, my sister was my first. So I think that one of that was another way that the Holy Spirit has really worked in my life.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Yeah, that's really cool. Um Yeah, and I just think Fear of the Lord is really cool as well. Because it's like actually before today, I had never thought of it in the way of how you explained it, Michael, where you said not wanting to be separated from the Lord. And I just think that's so cool because like it it like makes so much sense, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Because like, yeah, like I don't know. It's like I guess how I think of it is when you're little and you're like at the age where you think your parents are like perfect and they can do no wrong, and you're just like, oh my gosh, like I don't know, do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yeah, I know. I I know what you mean.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Yeah, and I've I I don't know, I never really thought of it like that, but I think it's really cool because it's very I guess it's like humbling to think because one, the Lord is my heavenly father, and two, he can do no wrong because he's the Lord, like he knows better than I do. And yeah, just like always like trusting in his plan, like regardless if I'm like, oh, that's right or not, like because I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yeah, I don't know. Actually, if that really matters, as you were but yeah, as you were talking, shout out to Father Ryan man, who this is the second has come up in this podcast. Uh he talked about Pascal's wager and his homily. And Pascal's wager essentially this idea that there are two possible there are four possible options, and that God exists, God doesn't exist, you follow his laws, you don't follow his laws. Essentially, the idea being you lose nothing if you follow God and do his commandments. Because if God doesn't exist, then nothing happens. If God does exist and you don't follow his commandments, then you might go to hell. But if you you follow his commandments and he does exist, then you go to heaven. It's not always the best way of believing. I don't think you should necessarily base like your belief on Pascal's wager. But I also think Father Man talked about it in the sense of you know, periods of desolation where you might not feel God moving into life. But I think it was so interesting is as you were talking about that, I kind of thought of that because that's kind of what fear of the Lord does for us is it kind of prevents us from it just being Pascal's wager. Like, oh, this is just the best case scenario for me, to the point of it's no, I actually you know want to be with God. And I think that was just something interesting that came to mind for me.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah, I like that a lot. Well, since we've gone through all of the the gifts of the spirit, is there a place you've like seen one in particular in your life? I guess you already said piety, but maybe another one.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

I mean, I think uh I definitely think of piety as like probably the I don't know if I say primary one, but sure, primary one. But I also think over the years I think this was a good question. Uh I would say I think I'd like to say understanding and not because I know everything about the church, but because I like to I think that I in my life has been a have been able to you know explain things that I know about God to others so that they can have a fuller and richer belief. And I like to think that that's a result of like the gift of understanding, and just you know, so I know these things let me like kind of explain these others just to bring others closer to God because I think that's ultimately ultimately my life goal as of right now is to just kind of introduce people to the faith because it's not my job to make them believe, but just to you know open the door a bit for them, uh point them that way.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

What about you?

SPEAKER_00 24:51

I was gonna say counsel, but actually now that we were talking about fear of the Lord, I want to say fear of the Lord because I just think like I've loved the Lord since like my freshman year, because that was, I guess, when my like faith journey kind of started. But it was just like this, like it wasn't fake love. I like I love the Lord, but it was like like a small little like fire type of thing. Like, I don't know, it wasn't as deep or as rich as it is now, and I just find like every retreat I go on, every talk I hear, every like thing person I encounter, like that love just grows deeper as I like mature as a person and learn more about him. And I just I really love that because at the end of the day, it's like I go home and I'm like, yeah, like this bad thing happened today, but I love the Lord, and like that's what matters because he has me and he's gonna take care of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

I think that's gonna do it for this episode, unless you have any final thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Um, no, I'm gonna.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Okay, perfect. That's gonna do it for this episode of Blazing Hearts. Listen to us wherever you get you your podcast, and have a blessed day.