This program will be held once a month on a Sunday at St. Charles Borromeo. The sessions will be held from 6:30pm – 8:30pm on October 18th, November 15th and December 20th. Make-up sessions will be available later in the Summer of 2021.
Confirmation (10th Grade)
A General Overview
Our Confirmation program is designed to prepare teens to receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit with open hearts. They should approach the Sacrament with a good understanding of what it means to be a fully initiated Catholic Christian. In order to accomplish this, we offer a preparation program in which teens may explore, question, learn and grow in their Catholic faith.
What We Offer
The Confirmation program is composed of faith formation sessions, retreats, reconciliation and Christian service. Except in case of illness, teens are required to attend all of the faith formation sessions. Teens are expected to plan carefully for each faith formation session as these are spread out over the course of 8 months to compensate for busy schedules and in light of Covid-19. We fully understand how busy family schedules are. However, our faith should never be just one more piece that we try to fit into the puzzle of our lives. Rather, our faith should be the framework into which all the other pieces of our lives are placed. When our faith is made a priority, everything else comes together.
In addition to faith formation sessions, students are required to attend a retreat as part of their Confirmation program. Both retreats are held here.
Called to Serve
Giving the gift of service to others is another important part of the preparation for Confirmation. In the words of St. James, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) Over the course of our year, the students will be encouraged to sign up for projects that answer our call to serve Jesus within our Church and community. We actively encourage parents/guardians to get involved as well. Our service program would not be possible without adult support. This will be explained at detail at the Parent, sponsor and student orientation.
Once teens have met all program requirements as outlined above, they will be eligible to be confirmed in the Fall of 11th Grade. Each teen will be interviewed as to whether or not they feel God is calling them to be confirmed at that time. This is a decision that should be made both freely and prayerfully.
Prayer in our Community
Finally, it should be stated that the most important form of preparing for Confirmation happens outside of our program. Specifically, candidates for the sacrament should be fostering their own daily prayer lives, and participating in the common prayer of the Church through Sunday Mass. Faithful attendance at Mass each and every Sunday is an indispensable part of our Catholic faith. It is where God speaks to us through the Scriptures and feeds us spiritually through the Eucharist. It is where we come together as God’s family, remembering the Lord’s promise that “wherever two or more gather in His name” He will be there; and fulfilling Jesus’ command at the Last Supper to “do this in memory of me.” A young person should only seriously consider committing to their Catholic faith in Confirmation, if they are already practicing that faith.
Class Sessions
We will be meeting once a month on a Sunday evening. We understand that sometimes unavoidable issues come up (such as illness) so make-up sessions will be offered in the Summer of 2021.