St. Jude Confirmation 2021-2022

CLASSES MEET WEDNESDAYS 

  

As human beings, we are guided to good works by an immutable call to serve one another.  That call is the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Christ himself had the Spirit descended upon him in his Baptism, and the Spirit remained with him throughout his ministry. Jesus knew his time on earth was limited, and he assured his apostles that they too would receive the Holy Spirit in order to empower them to carry on Christ’s message. On the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit visited the gathered apostles, inspiring them to build a new church so they may proclaim the beauty of God’s grace, mercy, and love. 

From that time on the Church has imparted the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Baptism.  As we reach adolescence, we must reexamine what the Spirit calls us to do in our everyday lives and how Christ’s teachings will shape our lives in adulthood. That is why we have the sacrament of Confirmation.  As confirmands you are the future of this Church. It will be up to you to keep Christ’s message and the Spirit’s call alive in the hearts of all men and women.  This confirmation program is designed to prepare you to take up this task.

This is a nine-session (9) Confirmation class designed to introduce students to core teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church. The class is divided into five (5) units:

(1) What makes us Catholic,
(2) What is scripture,
(3) Theology 101,
(4) Catholic Morality, and
(5) The Future of the Church.

This will not be a class based on memorizing the doctrines of the Catechism or retelling the stories of Scripture. Rather, this class is designed to introduce concepts, offer guidance on how those concepts can inform us as Christians in the 21st Century, and above all, inspire discussion. 

Before each class, students will be required to view a short video lesson and complete one or two readings or supplemental activities.

We will meet as a group at St. Jude roughly every three weeks to discuss the latest lesson.
Class will begin at 6:00 PM and end at 6:50 PM, followed by our Vespers service at 7.

This is an eight-session (8) Confirmation class based around the Gospel of John. However, this will not be a class based on retelling the stories of Scripture. Rather, this class is designed to introduct concepts, offer guidance on how those concepts can inform us as Christians in the 21st Century, and above all, inspire discussion.

Each class will also feature a prayer writing exercise in which students will be given an opportunity to write an original prayer based around the themes of that class. We will meet rouchly every three weeks on Wednesday evenings from October through May.

Class will start at 6pm and end at 6:50pm, followed by our Vespers worship service at 7pm.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul calls upon all Christians to “Rejoice always, pray continually,[and] give thanks in all circumstances”.  His words remind us that our worship should not start and end on Sunday morning. This is why, for thousands of years, clergy and laity alike have observed a tradition called The Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office, is five sets of prayers meant to be said at different times of the day. The evening prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours are called Vespers.

A Vespers service consists of an

• opening hymn,
• two responsorial psalms,
• two canticles,
• a short reading, and
• a few brief prayers. 

As part of our confirmation preparation program, students will attend a Vespers service after each confirmation class meeting. The service is required and designed to help enrich the prayer life of every students.
Students will be encouraged to participate in the service as cantors, lectors, and prayer leaders. 

After every session, students will attend the Vespers worship service.  It is important to student’s spiritual development that they attend and engage with the services. 

In order to encourage engagement with our prayer service, students are required to complete a reflection paper before each class on the previous session’s Vespers service. 

Papers should be between 100 and 200 words. This is an open-ended reflection assignment and need not take the form of a standard academic essay.

Possible topics for the reflection may be

(1) a reading or psalm from the service,
(2) a piece of music you enjoyed, or
(3) how a prayer spoke to you personally.

Missed assignments MUST be turned in the following class along with that class’ assignment.
Students who do not complete their reflection assignments will not be eligible for the sacrament of confirmation. 

There will be some readings to be done outside the classroom which will relate to the topics we are covering on the given week.  
Because this class is designed, in part, around the form of a bible study, completeing the assigned reading is absolutely essential so that students can contribute to the discussions we will be having every class.  
 

Service is an essential element of Christian discipleship.  It is not enough to simply have faith. As songwriter Rick Mullins put it, faith without works is as useless as “a screen door on a submarine”.  We are the hands and feet of Christ in the world, and it is up to us to make His message of love and compassion known through our actions.  The confirmation program is a chance for students to serve their fellow men and women while learning the role of good works in faith formation.  

Students are required to complete ten (10) hours of service between their two years in the confirmation program. Five hours should be spent on service within the parish (i.e. serving as a reader or cantor at Mass or a Vespers service) and five hours should be spent on service outside the parish with local outreach groups. Service that is organized by the parish for outside groups will count towards outward service hours. 

The Confirmation Program retreat is a chance for teens to reflect on their own experience with faith in light of what they have learned in the Confirmation I and II programs. The retreat will include small group discussions, opportunities for private prayer, as well as fun outdoor activities. Given the ongoing public health crisis, the date and nature of the retreat is still pending. It will occur in the second half of the faith formation year (i.e. after January). We will keep students and parents updated as we learn more about what will be possible for our retreat this year.