Confirmation is a precious gift of grace won for us by Jesus Christ through his death on the cross. So, if you wish your child to be Confirmed, you need to ensure that they receive this gift in the right way. Your family needs to be practising your Catholic faith. This means at the very least that you should be coming to Mass every Sunday. You also need to keep free all the dates in the Confirmation programme. Most important of all, you must help your child to prepare seriously and actively to receive the Sacrament.
Young people
Families are invited to enrol young people in Year 8 or above are invited to join the Confirmation Programme each year. For information for this year, please email the parish office.
It is not possible to enrol candidates for the programme after it has started because ours is a short but intensive programme.
Adults
Adults who have not been Confirmed should contact the parish priest and arrangements will be made for them to receive the Sacrament after a period of preparation. Families are also welcome to request this option for their children._________________________________________________________________________________
The Sacrament of Confirmation
Just as Baptism gives new life, Eucharist nourishes life, and Reconciliation restores life when it is broken, Confirmation strengthens that life by the gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 1285). It is about strengthening what God has given, and continues to give, to his sons and daughters (cf. CCC 1302-1303).
The Sacrament of Confirmation is not the Catholic equivalent to the Jewish bar mitzvah. Confirmation is not a “coming of age” celebration. True, most young people are just beginning to pass into early adulthood when they receive the sacrament. But Confirmation is not about coming of age. Reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation does not mark the end of formal religious education. We never outgrow a need for a deeper knowledge and appreciation of our faith.
The Sacrament of Confirmation is not a rite of passage, nor a graduation from religion class, nor a ratification of a personal faith choice. Rather, it’s all about what God is doing for his beloved daughters and sons.
And what is God doing? Strengthening the divine life which he gave at Baptism, nourishing us in the Eucharist, and reconciling with us in Penance. Why? So that the individual can better defend and witness to the faith through the gifts and workings of the Holy Spirit. And there are—and will be—many situations where we are called upon to defend and witness to our faith. And we need all the help we can get!
What role does the Holy Spirit play in the Sacrament of Confirmation?
In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit completes the grace of baptism and offers the newly confirmed strength as a true witness of Christ. Thus, the newly confirmed is “more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed” (cf. CCC, 1285). Thus, the Holy Spirit completes what was begun at baptism.
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