Media Release
Mangaluru, May 3: Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza, retired bishop of the diocese here, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 65 children on May 2 at Our Lady of Miracle Milagres here.
The bishop along with parish priest and assistant parish priest celebrated the holy Eucharist celebration. In his sermon, the bishop stressed on the importance of Confirmation Sacrament. To live a catholic life every Christian is bonded to take three sacraments in life namely Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Reconciliation will be given to get healing for sins and anointing of the sick. This sacrament gives a person who is sick strength, courage and peace so they can fight through their sickness and see the healing of God. Marriage and holy orders called social sacraments are given based on the choice of an individual to serve the church through religious life or marital life.
In Sacrament of Confirmation one will receive the Holy Spirit. We have seen in the Bible that Jesus gives this sacrament to his disciples. They symbolically witnessed this sacrament in the form of fire upon them. The bishop said that the Holy Spirit will remain in order for a person to live a Christian life and to be a true follower of Jesus. This sacrament will guide the person about what to speak, how to behave and how to show true spirit of Catholic life. One need not fear others. It will boost one's confidence. It will help in judging good and bad.
Pentecost happened 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. It was during this ‘quiet’ interval of 50 days that Jesus’ disciples became convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. On Pentecost Sunday they went public and history was changed. They started to preach in different languages, they became very powerful and realised why they were called for this ministry. Jesus blessed them with these words and said 'Go and preach this good message to others and spread this to whole world'.
Today Jesus calls each one to be true followers of His. Through the Holy Spirit one is responsible to live a true Catholic life. The holy rosary will be celebrated this month as a reminder for the family to be a role model in leading the daily rosary and to show the spirit of Catholicism wherever one goes.
Bishop anointed 65 children with holy oil and blessed them. After the mass, the bishop was honoured with a flower by the parish pastoral council vice president Cecilia Pereira.