The Sacrament of Confirmation

Last Friday night, 56 young people from our tri-parish cluster received the Sacrament of Confirmation conferred by Bishop Hying. It was a long journey to this place, but it is really just the beginning of what will, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, be a life long continuation of that journey we call faith. The young people, along with adult mentors walking with them, have explored various aspects of faith through discussion, service, research and of course prayer. It is the hope of our community that we have planted the seeds of faith in these young people that will grow into fruit to be shared with the larger world.

At a very busy time in these young people's lives, they are asked to step out of their comfort zones and explore what many adults struggle with - the role of faith in their lives and how they will live that faith on a daily basis. One of the highlights of this preparation for the Sacrament is always the Confirmation retreat. The retreat is an intense 24 plus hours of prayer, reflection, discussion, some crafts, an opportunity to celebrate the Sacraments of Reconciliation and ends appropriately with the celebration of the Eucharist at one of the cluster parish Masses. A solid sense of community is formed, as well as a strengthening of their relationship with God and each other.

Throughout the Confirmation preparation process, we emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and really explore God as Holy Spirit, especially on the retreat. In fact, the theme of the retreat is the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and how in Confirmation these gifts are strengthened: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Courage, Reverence, Wonder & Awe and Right Judgment. We examine our own gifts and acknowledge the gifts in others; create gifts to share with other retreat participants and celebrate the gifts of forgiveness, a parents love and the ultimate gift of the Eucharist.

Please continue to keep the young people of our cluster parishes in your prayers, both now and throughout their lives that they stay open to the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And check out the video from our retreat below!

On Sunday, we celebrated the feast of Pentecost which completes our Easter season and is another celebration of the Holy Spirit. For a refresher on Pentecost, take two minutes to check out this video from Busted Halo:

A Blessed Pentecost to you and Happy Birthday to the Church!

Maureen Rotramel
Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry