OPINION (AN COLÚN): An uplifting event in Birr pointing to fire, energy and hope

ON SATURDAY I joined family members for a special, joyous occasion in St Brendan's Catholic Church Birr. This was the Confirmation of many local children from a number of schools in the area. Among those being confirmed was my god-daughter Eleanor.
Often when we attend events like these we adults remember similar occasions during our own childhoods. They shine out like precious jewels in our memories.
When I was confirmed I took the name Francis, after St Francis of Assisi. This is a popular choice for those being confirmed because he was such a marvellous Saint, whose bravery, gentle heart and devotion to nature are such attractive features of his personality.
Eleanor chose the name Lucy, after her great-grandmother, who was an energetic, intelligent woman, who loved horses and ran a large farm in Limerick for many years. Lucy is a beautiful name. It comes from the Latin word 'lux' meaning 'light.'
The names we choose during Confirmation are very important because they are saying this is the faith we want to live our lives by. Having positive, strong symbols in our minds is essential as we traverse the sometimes challenging, difficult and harsh conditions of life. The symbols remind us that there is an unseen Life Force which is suffused with beauty, warmth and harmony; a Life Force that is higher and greater than the material world around us.
For many of us as we traverse life, materialism is an arid philosophy which cannot sustain. Crossing the deserts, plains and mountains we need something deeper than materialism to sustain and nourish us.
In the Christian world the time allotted for the Sacrament of Confirmation is, generally speaking, between the age of discretion (about the age of seven) and the age of 16. The purpose is to confirm the Sacrament of Baptism. The confirmed person contemplates the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which include wisdom, understanding, courage, energy and compassion. The origins of Confirmation can be traced back to the Acts of the Apostles when Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem so they could be baptised by the Holy Spirit: “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit'.” Water flowing from John's hands and the Holy Spirit symbolised by fire. Water soothes and pacifies. Fire energises and casts aside fear, anxiety and depression.
In Chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles the disciples are in a house in Jerusalem, praying, when the Holy Spirit descends upon them. It is a powerful, memorable passage hinting at, slightly echoing, the majesty and the awe unleashed at the dawning of the Universe: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.”
The Holy Spirit equals our souls, which equal our true selves. Our true self is beauty and love. It is, as we Christians say, faith, hope and charity. As we go through life we can lose touch with it for periods of time, to greater or lesser effect. With this in mind the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard pointed out that, “The greatest hazard of all, losing the self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed." Kierkegaard warned that in our lives we can become suffused with what he called “abstractions”, such as money, political beliefs or addictions, which take us away from our true selves and our spiritual beliefs. These “abstractions”, he warned, can cause great damage in our lives. It is true indeed that we are all sinners but when we become too immersed in sin then our lives are overwhelmed by havoc, despair and self-destruction. In such a dark state of immersion we lose touch with the jewel that is always within us, waiting to bring us calm and peace - the Holy Spirit.