What do I have to do to get ready for Confirmation and how long will it take?

What do I have to do to get ready for Confirmation and how long will it take?

At St. Joseph Parish, the Confirmation Preparation Program runs for a year. It consists of 8 sessions. These sessions are more than the basic catechesis that you have learned from your religion classes in your school or in the Sunday Religious Education Program. However, sessions for Confirmation will review some of what you’ve already learned and dig even deeper into those truths. The sessions proper will run for an hour and a half. However, each session will be preceded by a celebration of the Eucharist at 11:30 am.

As there are only eight sessions and one retreat for the preparation program and as responsible participation in a faith community is central to the sacrament of Confirmation, it is important that all candidates make every effort to attend all sessions. If a candidate knows that he/she will miss a session, it is his/her responsibility to inform the program coordinator and to find out from his/her team leader what material he/she missed. If a candidate misses more than one session over the course of the year, he/she will be considered withdrawn from the program for this year.

The candidate is always welcome to re-enroll either the following year or at such a time when he/she is ready and able to participate fully in faith and community building. Again, due to the centrality of responsible participation in a faith community, “make-up work” done at home or “make-up attendance” at another program is generally not a sufficient substitute for attendance at a session. Candidates are advised to put the session dates on their family’s calendar as soon as possible and to try to eliminate any potential conflicts. Candidates and/or their families experiencing any concern related to this expectation should contact the program coordinator.

Attendance, however, is just the beginning! Candidates need to make the most of our time together by engaging and participating fully in the sessions. We are all unique individuals, and we each possess our own gifts and talents. We need to work together to establish a community in which everyone feels comfortable, encouraged, and supported enough to share his/her gifts, talents, and faith, so that we all may learn from each other and grow together.