Confirmation

Confirmation Overview 2020-2021

Encounter

Engage

Embrace

Here we will focus on the learning and teaching of our faith. Our playlists or menu of activities for this will be focused on sacred scripture, especially on the New Testament, church doctrine and history and how it is relevant to our lives today.

Here we take what we have learned from the Encounter phase and put it into action by “practicing” our faith on both an individual and community level. Through engagement, we experience the conversion of heart Jesus speaks to as we align our lives and goals more closely with the life of Jesus. At this step, we go to Mass, engage in prayer activities, journal, and examine how we “actively practice” our faith.

Here we take the first two pieces and live our lives courageously as Catholics as Jesus has taught us. We must embrace others fully as a way of being and living. Our charge is to go out into the world and be God’s light – this is where we put into action and accept a new way of life as a Catholic. Service is an integral component of this theme.

You will note that these are all verbs, words of action. We practice, live and grow our faith by actively participating in growing in relationship with Christ. We invite you and your family to join us as we encounter, engage, and embrace this new year of faith formation.

Monthly Playlists

October: Your Journey

As we discussed when we gathered, the sacrament of Confirmation concludes our initiation into the Catholic faith. It is not a graduation, but in a sense a launching. You are entering into a new phase of your faith journey where you will publicly claim this faith as your own.

Encounter

Choose one of these stories about different journeys from the Bible and reflect:

Engage

Who do you most easily relate to in the story and why?

Who has been a guide for your faith journey?

When you reflect upon your experience with your faith, where have you been
blind to God working in your life? Click here to access your monthly journaling page!

What qualities did you see in bible story you read?

What qualities to you see in yourself that would help on your faith journey?

Embrace

Choose one of the service projects to do as a family this month such as making sandwiches for
St. Vincent DePaul, making cards for the House of Bread Lunch bags.
While working together ask your family members about their highs and lows of their faith
journey. Ask your parents why they want this sacrament for you.

Family conversation starters for the month:
What was your favorite journey and why?
How did the people you traveled with impact your journey?
How has your faith changed over the years?
How has God accompanied you on your journey?

Extras

Wisdom of the Geese (as shown during our first gathering).

Watch this to see how far St. Paul traveled to proclaim the good news! Remember he traveled by foot or by boat!!!! Imagine traveling this way today!

Always be on the lookout for miracles along the way. Check out the journey of this little guy, you never know where you will find a companion!

November: Gifts of the holy spirit

Opening Prayer

Christ has no body but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet. Yours are the eyes, you are his body… - St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

To live this call, we need certain traits or qualities. What would happen if you allowed yourself to become the person God created you to be? Through Confirmation we are not only sealed as followers of Christ, but we publicly claim this faith as our own! As a bonus the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were bestowed upon you through baptism are fortified. These are the tools or fuel you will need for your faith journey.

This month we will explore the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of Confirmation. Why do I need to be confirmed? You may be wondering what is in it for me . . . let’s begin with what it is.

Encounter

click here

Watch the Busted Halo video on Confirmation to get a basic overview of the sacrament, then choose either the video by Dynamic Catholic or Ascension Press on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Think of the questions that were asked of your Godparents and parents at your Baptism. They stood before God and this community stating their intention that you would be a follower of Jesus Christ. Look over the questions below, with answers taken from Creighton University, and see what your parents want for you. Just as we renew our baptismal promises every Lent, on Confirmation you will publicly affirm the this is your faith, by renewing your baptismal promises.

Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?
I do.
Lord, all I want to do is live in the freedom you offer me.
I want to reject the unloving choices I have made,
and the sinful failures to love anywhere in my life. I reject
all injustice, all violence all that disrespects the
dignity of life.

Do you reject the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you?
I do.
Lord, I admit that some evil has a hold on me:
it is attractive, it has such powerful rewards,
it has become a habitual way for me to be myself.
Lord, I renew my commitment this day
to turn from that evil
and from letting any disordered attachment,
any empty promises master me,
and try to separate me from you.
By this promise, I commit myself
to greater courage in acting justly.

Do you reject Satan and all his empty promises?
I do.
Lord, as I renew the promises
that accompany my becoming one with you
in the baptism of dying to sin and rising to life,
I renew my commitment
to reject Satan, and all his ways.

Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
I do.
Lord, you made me and give me life every day.
I believe in you, I turn to you,
and I place my life,
and the graces I need each day,
in your loving hands.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.
Jesus, my Lord and Savior,
my life is in your hands.
I believe in you, I turn to you,
I commit myself to growing closer to you,
placing myself with you,
in love - compassionate, self-sacrificing love -
for others.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting?
I do.

I believe in and renew my commitment to
your work among us.
I want to contribute to the unity that you desire for us.
I promise to be merciful,
for I have known your mercy.
God, the all-powerful Father of
Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new
birth by water and the Holy Spirit,
and has forgiven all our sins.
May he also keep us faithful to
our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

Now that you have been reminded of what we commit at Baptism, watch either the Dynamic Catholic or The Chosen (Part 1 and 2) video on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Engage

Read Bible Gateway.  After watching the videos and reading this passage,
            What gifts has God given you?
            Which of the gifts of the Holy Spirit do you utilize as a teen?

Open the small envelope in your “gift” and write on the back of at least four of the gifts cards a time when you used that particular gift or how teens use/need this gift today.

Embrace

Use your gifts to help others. This month try to do at least two of the following:

Start a family gratitude jar and focus this month on the many gifts God has given you.
Pray each morning or evening thanking God for your many blessings.
Reach out to someone via snail mail. Send a card to a grandparent, parent, friend, cousin, coach and let them know you are thinking of them.
Make 25 inserts for our lunch bags for House of Bread wishing people a nice day.
Take the time to have dinner with your family and ask the questions below or make up additional questions for your family to answer based on the gifts of the Holy Spirit like: What would you like to be more knowledgeable about? When were you courageous? When were you closest to God? Who is the wisest person you know and why?
Make sandwiches for House of Bread – coordinate with Mrs. O’Neill for supplies or to pick up sandwiches you and your family make with your own supplies.
Gather with family and make some boxes for Operation Christmas Child – due to the church the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

What was the best gift you ever received and who gave it to you?
Why was this gift so important to you?
What was the most helpful gift you ever received?

Which of the gifts of the Holy Spirit do you think you need the most?
Pick one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and share how you currently use it and why it is important.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

December: Advent - a joyous season of preparation

Lord of all love,
As I step out the door, show me my neighbor.
As I read the news, show me my neighbor.
As I prepare for your coming,
show me my neighbor.
On my left, on my right
Perhaps turning to me right now
Show me my neighbor.

Where my eyes half past before and then turned away
Show me my neighbor.
We are my ears have heard cries for that I have ignored
Show me my neighbor.
In this time of hope and anticipation, let me be a beacon of your light.
Show me my neighbor.

And then let me love them
In their joy and in their distress
That their delight be mine
And their pain be mine too.
Let me love them
As completely and mercifully as you love me.
In true solidarity
Singing our songs together until the new song emerges, let me love them.
For it is in knowing our neighbor that We create your kingdom here on earth

Open my heart and help me,
during this advent season and to see my neighbor.
Heavenly Father, in your name we pray.
Amen
Adapted CRS Prayer

December is typically a time when we are fully immersed in the holiday season, but do you know what has changed in our church since the last time we gathered? What would you say if I wished you a Happy New Year? Every once in a while in our program we will shed new light on elements of our faith that you may have forgotten, such as the new liturgical year.

Encounter

Since our last class we have started a new year in the church!!! Check out this link to get a brief overview of what that means. After reading the article, you know we are in the season of Advent. This is a joyous season of preparation.

This year we will be reading Mark’s gospel throughout the year – there are three cycles or readings for our church. This is year B where we read the gospel of Mark. Believe it or not Mark’s gospel does not begin with the birth of Christ, but instead with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan. Remember each of the gospels tell the story of Jesus’ ministry but the audience for whom they were written is different. We will discuss this in more detail later in our program

The infancy narratives or the story of the birth of Christ are told in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. Advent is the season where we prepare for the coming of Christ. It is the four weeks before Christmas. Need a refresher? Watch this video and see if this is your reality of the infancy narrative?

Now let’s see if we can go back to the source.
Click below to read passages from Luke and Matthew. Pay attention to the tone and details.

Engage

Sacred scripture is foundational to our faith, yet even some of the most familiar stories are not what we think.
How many wise men are there in these stories?
What animals are mentioned?
Where is the little drummer boy?
Think about the different stories of the infancy narratives that you read above. Who do you most closely relate to?
   Vulnerable like the Jesus?
Full of faith like the magi?
Trusting like Mary and Joseph?
Anxious and angry like King Herod?
Given the fact that we have just started a new year in the church let’s reflect on what our faith means in the world today. In preparation for Father Lerner, please reflect upon questions you may have about God, being Catholic or your faith journey.  If you have thought of additional questions since our last class, please send them to Mrs. O'Neill by November 22 to be included in the list being sent to Father Lerner.

Embrace

Commit to shopping at small local business or at an online fair trade retailer such as these.
Pick one charity you believe in and make a donation in someone’s name. Be sure to do some research and find an organization that has had success with their targeted population.
Make Christmas cards and get them to the church by December 12 so Mrs. O’Neill can share them on behalf of our class community.
Make a Jesse tree this year with your family, see directions here.
Make an Advent calendar or wreath, or follow the Advent Calendar on BustedHalo.com.
Continue (or start) a Gratitude Journal.

Conversation Starters:
What is your favorite memory from past Christmases?
What is your favorite family tradition for Christmas?
What is one thing you can do to spread joy during the season of preparation?
What about this season fills you with joy and anticipation?
What surprised you most about reading the stories back to back?

January: COntinue

Opening Prayer

Continue
by Maya Angelou

Into a world which needed you
My wish for you
Is that you continue

Continue

To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness

Continue

To allow humor to lighten the burden
of your tender heart

Continue

In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter

Continue

To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined

Continue

To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you

Continue

To put the mantel of your protection
Around the bodies of
The young and defenseless

Continue

To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise

Continue

To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected

Continue

To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good

Continue

To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit

Continue

To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing

Continue

To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name

Continue,

And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally

(poem written by Maya Angelou in 2016 for Oprah) 

To continue and grow in our faith, that is the journey we are on as disciples of Christ. To do that we need to act, to live, and to be open to God working in and around us. We need to believe that we are made in his likeness and image and therefore worthy of God’s love. And if we believe we are made in God’s likeness we must commit acting in a way that shows God’s love and light in this world. This month’s lesson will be a mini retreat focusing in on:

Why am I here? Why was I created? Does God really know me? What is the plan for my life and how does Jesus fit into the picture? And how about the Holy Spirit? These questions will be explored as you experience a retreat that aims at helping you uncover why the Good News of Jesus is so good.

In preparation for this lesson, I encourage you to watch, read and listen to the materials below. These are only here to help you grow as a person, grow in faith and relationship with Christ and grow in understanding of discipleship. Consider January an opportunity to re-set behaviors that don’t serve you, reflect on where you are headed and who is accompanying you and how can you begin, strengthen and grow your personal relationship with Christ.

Encounter

“Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends. Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears — of everything that concerns you. Converse with Him confidently and frankly; for God is not wont to speak to a soul that does not speak to Him." — St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Read the following quotes from scripture. Which ones do you find easy to believe? Which ones do you resist? Why?

So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.   Genesis 1:26

I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder; marvelous are Your works.    Psalm 139:14

But I have called you friends, for everything that I have heard from My Father have I made known to you.    John 15:15b

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?    1 Corinthians 3:16

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.    Ephesians 2:10

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
   Isaiah 41:10

Because you are precious in my site, and honored and I love you.
Isaiah 43: 4

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

Read or watch the video by Father Mike or read the message by Kurt Vonnegut. Do you believe that God sees us for who we are and does not define by what we accomplish or what we have? Simply being who you are is enough.

Fr. Mike sharing some thoughts on becoming the person God created you to be : “God sees us as we are, but he approaches us as we could be.”

Excellent Message!
By Kurt Vonnegut

“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”

And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent,
that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”

This is how God sees you – an interesting person worthy of his love!

Engage

One of the best ways we grow in relationship with one another is to listen. To understand the other. To recognize the humanity and all of us and that we are all God’s children.

Watch the first 6 minutes of the Enesto Sirolii’s Ted talk entitled: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! He frames his reflection within the context of foreign aid but this is true for individual relationships, relationships with those we serve, and our relationship with God. Reflect upon preconceived notions you may have about others, about yourself, and about God, how do these encourage or hinder your ability to grow in deep relationship with these people especially with regard to service.

Now apply this to your relationship with God – how do I or can I connect with God?

Embrace

Sit quietly this month. Commit to taking 10 minutes to reflect on your holidays this year. How was your preparation and celebration different? What was better? What did you need to let go?
Get up early one day and watch the sunrise. That is God’s gift to you – all He asks is that you open your heart to appreciate the gifts He has and is giving you and recognize that this is an expression of his love for us.
Complete the New Year’s resolution sheet (click to print a copy). Reflect on what you would like to commit to doing to grow as a person in the coming year.