St. Pius X Parish CONFIRMATION HANDBOOK 2018 DATE OF CONFIRMATION - Sunday, December 9, 2018 (as of 1/15, still tentative) 1:45 pm practice (with sponsors) & picture 3:00 pm liturgy 1
CONFIRMATION CATECHESIS Candidates for Confirmation at St. Pius X will receive developmentally appropriate catechesis in accordance with the Archdiocese of Omaha s Confirmation guidelines. Their catechesis prior to receiving the sacrament includes the following: Confirmation increases and deepens the grace of Baptism, imprinting an indelible character on the soul. Confirmation strengthens the baptismal conferral of the Holy Spirit on those confirmed in order to incorporate them more firmly in Christ, strengthen their bond with the Church, associate them more closely with the Church s mission, increase in them the gifts of the Holy Spirit and help them bear witness to the Christian faith in words and deeds. The Holy Spirit, as well as the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit are present, visible, and strengthened in the life of the young adult through Confirmation. The Rite of Confirmation includes these basic symbols: the imposition of hands, the anointing with Sacred Chrism and the words of the sacramental formula. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation. Retreat experiences will provide an opportunity to encounter Jesus in a special way. A retreat hopes to make possible a connection between the what of our faith and the One with whom we are being called into relationship, Jesus Christ. For any questions you may have regarding Confirmation catechesis, please contact Colleen Ciciulla. 402-558-1898 or colleenc@stpiusxomaha.org 2
EXPECTATIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES Parents: The next several months will offer many opportunities for you to become involved and support your daughters and sons as they prepare for Confirmation. You are invited to share your faith and participate with your daughters and sons as they do service projects, study and pray. See the next page for lots of ideas on how you can help your child prepare. You can encourage full participation in the liturgy by previewing the gospel and readings before mass or by discussing the readings and homily and other parts of the mass on your way home and throughout the week. As parents, you are also responsible for transporting your candidate to and from service projects with their Discipleship Groups. If you treat participation in the liturgy and in formal projects seriously, that tells your child that these things are important enough to prepare for, plan for, and participate in fully themselves. Candidates: To be a fully contributing member of a community demands presence and participation. You are preparing to be full members of the Catholic Church in the faith community of St. Pius X, so you are both invited and expected to participate fully in the communal liturgies in whatever capacity you can. Many serve in the ministries of hospitality, music, altar service, lectors, etc., but most of us participate in the role of the assembly. Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart! Prayer, reflection and scripture reading: To encourage your love of reading scripture, the parish will give you a Bible. We have also planned two retreats one with candidates only and one with candidates and their sponsors. Participation in both retreats is expected. Service: Serving others is a hallmark of discipleship, so service is an expectation for all candidates. You will be asked to reflect on and report on the projects that you do to see the service as an expression of love and an encounter with Christ rather than a good deed. The service journal for family and individual projects in February April is in the left pocket of the folder. It should be returned to me by April 30. Individual service: See page 5 for service ideas, but the possibilities are not limited to those listed! Whatever you choose to do, be sure to do it with the intention of serving God cheerfully. Family service: As parents, your role is to encourage meaningful service and meaningful reflection on the service that the candidates perform. See page 5 for ideas for family service. Group service: Candidates serve together in 5 projects with Discipleship Groups facilitated by pairs of parents who volunteer to plan the events and lead the reflections. These projects are scheduled between May-November. You ll get more information on Discipleship Groups at the Kickoff meeting scheduled on April 30. Optional service trip: Just5Days is an optional service opportunity for students in grades 6-8. It is a 5-day mission trip that brings students from the Archdiocese together for service in the Omaha community. See the flyer in the packet for more information. 3
How Can Parents Prepare Their Child for Confirmation? The pastor, catechists and parents have the responsibility to ensure and affirm that a candidate for Confirmation is suitably instructed and properly disposed for the renewal of the candidate s baptismal promises and reception of Confirmation. Specifically to the parents responsibility, the following suggestions are offered as ways to prepare their candidates: Take your child to Mass each weekend. After Mass, over breakfast or lunch (or dinner if Saturday evening!), talk about the Scripture reading and/or the homily. Make the Discipleship Group service project dates a priority on your family calendar and take your child to each one. Talk about the project before and after its completion. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder and awe. Talk about the Seven Gifts as they relate to your life which you feel are strong and which need strengthening. Then let your child reflect on the Gifts in his/her life. Help your child memorize The Apostles Creed. Talk about what the faith statements contained in the prayer mean to you. Give your child the opportunity to hear you talk about the meaning of faith in your life. Take your child to the church where you were confirmed, if possible. Talk about your own Confirmation. Ask your child about the saint that he/she has chosen for Confirmation. Ask what qualities drew your child to choose that saint, and what qualities of the saint the child wants to emulate. Go with your child to the sacrament of Reconciliation before Confirmation. Does your family pray together? Now is perfect time to incorporate daily prayer into daily living. When your child writes the letter to Father Mike Eckley expressing a desire to receive Confirmation, be interested and involved in the writing process to the degree appropriate for your child. If your child is struggling with a faith issue or has a question about Confirmation, talk about it. Acknowledge their honesty and assist them to find answers. Go to lunch with your child and his/her sponsor. 4
Service Individual and Family Spring Service is a privilege and a responsibility of all who want to follow Jesus. With this in mind, between now and April 30, all Confirmation candidates and their families are encouraged to participate in a service project as a family. Each candidate is also encouraged to participate in service opportunities on his/her own. Please report on one family project and one individual candidate project by April 30. Submit your report in hard copy using the Service Journal in your packet or as an email attachment (colleenc@stpiusxomaha.org). Just report on what you did. Here are a few ideas for service projects: o Visit, read to, or play cards with an elderly person you know. o Wrap soda bread on a Saturday morning with the Knights of Columbus at St. Leo. Sign up through your teacher or catechist. o Volunteer at a Pasta Friday evening. Sign up through your teacher or catechist. o Gather clothing donations from neighbors or from your own closet for St. Vincent de Paul. o Organize a family or neighborhood food drive for a food pantry in Omaha. o Bake a treat for someone who is ill or homebound, then deliver it and spend time visiting. o Make a fleece blanket for someone in the hospital or nursing home. o Volunteer at the Pius spring grounds clean-up. Call Dave Ludwig at 402-551- 6667. o Make cards or write letters to Pius men and women in the military. Call the parish office at 402-558-8446 for a list of names. o Clean the church on Saturday morning. Call Rita Bianchi at 402-556-1201. o Open your eyes and heart to someone in your own life who would benefit from your time and attention. o Pick up trash at a nearby park. o Make fleece hats to donate to Children s Hospital for kids with cancer. o Shovel snow or help clean up a neighbor s yard. o Help out at home by doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, washing the dishes, and emptying the dishwasher. o Come up with your own service idea based on a need that you see. Listen to the Lord s nudges! I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. John 13:15 5
Group Service Projects Discipleship Groups Summer/Fall Doing service as a faith community builds the sense of us being the face, hands and feet of Christ on earth. On April 30, you will get information about the Discipleship Group that you have been assigned to and the service projects that group will perform. Discipleship Group service projects often take the candidates out of their comfort zone and help them to encounter Christ in places where they ve never looked before! Watch for more information in April. Note: Adults are still needed to serve as facilitators for Discipleship Groups. If you are interested, please notify Colleen. You will have to attend a Facilitator meeting on Tuesday, March 27. Please consider being involved with this part of your child s preparation. Bible Read-A-Thon We have arranged a Read-A-Thon to encourage you to spend time reading your new Bible every day for the first two weeks of February to prepare yourself spiritually for Lent. Every Candidate from St. Pius X (not St. Leo!) has a sheet with an individual code to the online Read-A-Thon site where you will log your minutes and any donations that you get from your sponsor, grandparents, aunts, uncles or other family members, friends, or neighbors who would want to encourage your scripture study. You are NOT required to do the Read-A-Thon to raise money, but we DO want you to log your time 10-15 minutes each day. When you get your Bible this weekend, there will be a gold sheet with the daily scripture readings for February 1-February 14. Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1309) 6
CONFIRMATION NAME Baptism and Confirmation are closely related sacraments, so closely related, that in the first centuries of the Church, Baptism, Confirmation, and First Eucharist were celebrated in one ceremony known as the Rite of Initiation. We will spend a great deal of time emphasizing the link between Baptism and Confirmation. In Confirmation we proclaim publicly that we have chosen to live in such a way that our whole life will be a reflection of the love that God first gave at Baptism. For these reasons it is appropriate for you to keep your Baptismal name if it is a saint s name. If you wish to take another name, you should choose a saint's name. (See the Saint/Sponsor form in your packet.) SPONSORS The sponsor not only stands with the candidate at the time of Confirmation but is also to serve as an example and guide, personally bearing witness to what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. More than anything else, the sponsor's very example should commend him or her for this role. Parents may not be sponsors. There is no requirement that the sponsor be of the same sex as the confirmed. Non-Catholics may not be sponsors. The sponsor must be at least 16 years of age and confirmed. The sponsor must be a practicing Catholic in good standing. If married, the sponsor must be in a marriage recognized as valid by the Church. Invitation. There is an invitation card to your sponsor in the pocket. You can rewrite and revise it or sign it as it is and send it with the sponsor guidebook and other materials in the envelope so that your sponsor knows what is being asked of him or her. The sponsor guidebook explains the responsibilities that come with serving as a sponsor and contains important information on how they can help you grow in your faith. Being invited to serve as a sponsor is a great honor. When you ask an aunt or uncle or family friend to join you on your faith journey, it s even more important than when your parents asked someone to be your godparent because you are asking them to make a commitment to pray for you and walk with you for the next 12 months (and hopefully beyond). It is also a great responsibility. Sponsorgrams. Some sponsors are afraid that they won t know what to say or do to help you on your journey. Sponsors who take their role seriously will want to grow in their faith so they re prepared to answer your questions. To equip them, we have subscribed to an online service called Sponsorgrams. This costs nothing for the sponsors, but will help them understand their role in your faith journey. 7
QUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED CONCERNING CONFIRMATION 1. WHO MAY RECEIVE THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION? In this diocese, Confirmation may be conferred upon any baptized person between the age of 13 (eighth grade) and 18 (before the senior year of high school). It is most properly conferred when the person about to be confirmed wants to enter more fully into the life of Christ, has been properly instructed, and is willing to take an active part in the life of the Church. 2. WHO USUALLY CONFIRMS? The Archbishop, Bishop and Abbot are the usual ministers of Confirmation. They confirm to show that Confirmation is closely related to the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Priests, too, may confirm with special permission of the archbishop. 3. HOW IS THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION CONFERRED? The Sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the forehead and through the words, "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." The anointing with chrism and the words of the bishop tell us that the baptized person receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. The confirmed person is also closely bound (sealed). She or he is given help to spread the love of Jesus among people. 4. WHAT ARE THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? The gifts of the Holy Spirit are the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, and the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence. 5. WHY ARE SPONSORS CHOSEN AT CONFIRMATION? Sponsors present the persons to be confirmed to the bishop for the anointing. They speak in the name of the whole believing community. The sponsors continue to help the confirmed persons witness to Christ in their daily lives. 6. DOES CONFIRMATION MARK THE END OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION? No! Confirmation is not the end of religious education. Confirmation, as the last stage of initiation, marks the beginning of a new awareness of life in Christ. It is a call to live as full members of the Body of Christ. If you have any questions regarding Confirmation formation, contact Colleen Ciciulla. 402-558-1898 or colleenc@stpiusxomaha.org 8