[Note: this homily was given especially to the First Confession class]

Language can be such a divisive issue – even within these walls it can bring temptations that threaten to fracture us from the unity and joy that God is offering here.  If you are familiar with human history, you know that this was not always the case; that there was a time when all men had a common tongue.  This allowed them to work together on great projects.

Christ Himself teaches how much stronger we are when we work together: one man cannot break a bundle of sticks, but if a group of men work together and each takes a single stick, the bundle can be broken [showed how I could not break the bundle of sticks, then distributed sticks to individual “first confessors” and showed that we could break it together].  This is wonderful when kindling needs to be made, but what if that bundle was actually valuable?  Working together certainly makes us more powerful, but what if we use that power to do bad things?  Back when there was only one language, men thought only of themselves.  They were selfish and wicked.  They worked together to do bad things instead of good things.  So God divided them by making them all speak different languages.

Today we celebrate Pentecost.  One of the wonderful things that happened at Pentecost was that the division of language was overcome:  everyone could understand the wonderful things that Christ’s apostles were telling them.  From that point on, God gave us a common language; a way for us to work together; and he set it up so that we could only use that language to work together to do good things.

What is that language?  What is the language that Christ speaks?  How do we communicate with Him?  It has nothing to do with the sound of the words that we use (Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Ukrainian, English, Southern, RhodeIslandese), but everything to do with love (e.g. 1 Corinthians 13: 1… “though I speak with the tongues of men and angels…”)!  Last week we learned about this when we heard how God spoke with His Father.  When we work together using this language, God works through us to accomplish great wonders.  He can turn you into a real superhero; a saint; someone who can scare demons, protect the needy, and heal the broken.  Together with Christ, working together using his language, we can overcome anything. 

Today, you [our First Confession Class] have taken a great step in learning this language of love.  This language is at its strongest when it is used in worship and in the sacraments (mysteries) of the Church.  When you confess your sins in the Church, you are speaking the language of love with God Himself.  He hears you, He heals you from the things that have hurt you, and He gives you the strength to continue getting stronger.

I want you to keep learning God’s special language because it will help you become a better person.   Don’t worry, you don’t have to memorize a zillion new words or conjugations; your parents have already taught you a lot of this language, as have your Church school teachers.  You have already been Baptized and Christmated: this helps a lot.  Plus, you take Communion regularly, and have had your First Confession: these help a lot, too. 

Now I want to give you a gift that will allow you to practice this language when you are not at Church: a prayer book.  It will help, too.  If you use even small parts of this book on a regular basis, you will become more and more fluent in God’s language.  You will learn to understand the world around you better, you will become a happier person, and you will help make everyone around you happy, as well.

[hand out Prayer Books]

May God grant to His new confessors, [names deleted for publication], peace health and happiness for many blessed years!