Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 2022 – Genesis 3:9-15; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1:26-38

Guest Homilist:  Bishop Dominic Lagonegro

What a great group they are, aren’t they?  Please be seated, relax, okay? I think that you know that what I always like to do is to meet ahead of time with the candidates just to get to know them a little bit.

I was back in my home parish - I grew up outside of White Plains - I was back in my home parish doing Confirmation in May. So, I was sitting there and one of the candidates was sitting there with his brother, who was his sponsor. And, we’re talking. And I had been thinking about what homily I was going to use. I have one on scouting or another one, and I wasn’t sure which one I was going to use. So, these two boys sat down and one of them told me that he was in Scouts. And I said, “Ah, maybe that’s the one I should use.” So, we’re talking, and he said he was in Troop 1, Purchase. And I said, “Oh, I was in Troop 1, Silver Lake.” And his brother looks at me and says, “We know.” I said, “How do you know?” And he pulled out this old scout handbook, and I looked at it and said, “Wow, I haven’t seen something like that for years.” He said, “Open it up.” I opened it up and on the next page was Troop 1, Silver Lake, and my name.  It was my handbook. This was sixty years later. I have no idea how he got the handbook. It was given to him as a gift when he became an Eagle Scout. Well, that decided it. I said, “Okay, it’s the Scout homily tonight.” And guess what? You’re getting the Scout homily, too. 

Actually, I have to say, aside from classmates, some of the best friends I have are those that I had in scouting, over sixty years ago. And we have been friends all these years. And you know what happens when old friends get together? What do they do? They talk and they talk about the crazy things they did when they were young, right? And when this scouting group gets together, we always talk about what happened to us one time when we were up in the Adirondacks camping. The camp where we were at had these very large tents and there were five beds inside the tent, and we had the middle open. So, we decided what we were going to do, we were going to try to catch a raccoon. So, we got a box, and we got a stick, and we got string, and we put it in the middle of the tent, propped the box up with the stick, and had the string going to the bed. And, of course, we put candy in the box. Raccoons love candy. So, in the middle of the night, we hear the raccoon scratching on the wooden floor of the tent, coming in, and then gnawing on candy. And my friend pulls the string, the box goes down. We caught a raccoon! We found out quickly it wasn’t a raccoon. It was a skunk! And he let go! It was so bad they would not let us in the dining room for the rest of the time we were there. We had to eat outside.

But, you know, those are the things that, when you have really good friends, you enjoy talking about, right? And good friends are people you can really depend on. As I said, I have wonderful friends in scouting, wonderful friends as classmates, but I have to say, my very, very best friend is Jesus. He is always there for me. And again, like any friend. When you have a friend, what do you need to do? You need to talk to them, right? You talk to Jesus. And you rely on them, and they are always there for you.

When you have a good friend, what does the friend want for you? Doesn’t a good friend really want you to be happy? Isn’t that what he wants? Isn’t that what you want for your good friends? And that’s what you want from them. And that is exactly what Jesus wants for you. Jesus wants you to be happy.
Now, think about it for a minute. When are you really happy? Isn’t it when you’re doing something good? Don’t you feel happy when you really are able to help someone? Aren’t you happy when you are telling the truth? Aren’t you happy when you are being kind and friendly to somebody? Aren’t those the times that make you happy? And that’s what Jesus wants. He wants you to do what he says. And when we do that, we are going to be happy.

On the other hand, when are you not happy? Isn’t it when you tell a lie, because you’re worried you’re going to be caught in a lie? You just feel bad. Aren’t you unhappy when you really hurt someone? You feel bad. Aren’t you unhappy when you betray a friend? When we don’t do what Jesus says, we’re not going to be happy. But when we listen to Him, and do what He wants, that’s when we’re happy. And, to help you to be happy, tonight Jesus is giving the three of you the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit that you receive tonight, and the Spirit that has been given to all of us who have been confirmed, is there to help us, to guide us, to direct us, to help us to listen to Jesus, and so be happy.

Why did God make us? Did you ever ask yourself that question? Why did God make us? The answer? God made us to be happy. To be happy here on Earth but more importantly, God made us so that we would be happy forever with Him in Heaven. That’s what He wants. And when we listen to God, we’ll be happy. 

The Spirit that you receive tonight is a great gift from God to help you to be happy.  To help you to listen to God and to help you to live by God’s message. If you listen to the Spirit, you’ll be happy.  But, if you ignore the Spirit, I think you will find out you won’t be happy.  You’re happy only when you reach out and use your talents and gifts to help others. If you’re mean and selfish and vengeful, you’ll never be happy. But if you are kind and generous and helpful and loving, you will know happiness.  Happiness here. But, more importantly, you will know happiness forever with God.

Live by the Spirit.  Listen to God. And you will be happy.