Confirmation

A.   Parish Directives

Preparation for Confirmation (youth) involves regular weekend Mass attendance as well as attendance for a

minimum of two years in faith formation, involvement in a ministry for the parish, a Confirmation retreat, and four

weeks of immediate study and preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament.

B.   Diocesan Directives

Confirmation catechesis for youth will respect the following principles:

•Confirmation is a sacrament of Initiation - calling for a remembering and renewal of Baptism.

•Confirmation is rooted in the Trinity - remembering God's love, following the person of Jesus, and living justly in the activity of the                Spirit.

•Confirmation is about discipleship and mission - drawing persons into the life, work and mission of the Church.

•Confirmation is a celebration of the faith community - the responsibility of all the faithful to accept and use the diverse gifts for the               kingdom of God.

C.   Theology

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "No on can enter into the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit"  (John 3:5).

The presence of the Spirit in the life of the Catholic Christian is intricately involved in the Baptism that precedes it.  We are washed, purified and welcomed into the family of Christ and sealed with his promise to be with us always in the laying on of hands and the anointing with the Holy Chrism.

The Second Vatican Council emphasized two important dimensions of the Sacrament of Confirmation.  First, Confirmation is intimately connected to the Sacraments of Initiation - begun in Baptism and completed with the reception of the Holy Eucharist.  Our use of the word process to describe the developing sense of conversion distinguishes Confirmation as not only a strengthening of the spiritual gifts, but an interaction within a community on the journey to everlasting life.

Second, the focus has changed from being passive recipients of the sacramental graces and gifts to an expectation that having been given the gifts of the Spirit, Catholics of all ages are meant to actively use those gifts and witness to the life of Christ within them and within the community.

The gifts of the Spirit are now proclaimed in a contemporary language that evokes the fire of the Spirit that gives life to the Church.  The prayer from the Rite of Confirmation says in part:

Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper

and guide.  Give them the spirit of wisdom and

understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage,

the spirit of knowledge and reverence.  Fill them with

the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

(Taken from the Guidelines for Sacramental Catechesis for the Diocese of Pueblo)