Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation Day is a special day in the faith lives of the young people to be confirmed and also for their family, friends and parish community who join them on that day.
Confirmation celebrates the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Our Confirmation is, in fact, a continuance of what has begun at our baptism; a continuance of the developing awareness and reality of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
There is an ancient tradition in the Church of speaking about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The custom can be traced back to Isaiah 11: 1-3 and it sets down the following gifts:
Knowledge
The gift of knowing the truth; knowing the Father and Jesus the Saviour whom he sent among us
Wisdom
The power to see all things as God sees them
Understanding
The gift of understanding God’s revelation.
Right Judgement
Helps us to see what we should do in a difficult situation
Courage
The power to carry through joyfully what we know to be right
Reverence
Leads us to feel for God the love that a child feels for a loving parent and enables us to see all others as our brothers and sisters
Wonder and Awe in God’s presence
Enables us to be willing to respond to the impulses of the Holy Spirit and gives us a fear of being separated from God
Preparation for Confirmation
The home should be the first church which children should know, and in which they are reminded of God and helped to pray by what they see around them. Religion begins at home. Parents are the first religion teachers and the most important of all teachers of religion.
Our Parish Confirmation Preparation Programme is a set of Six Sunday Masses, in which the young people preparing for Confirmation are involved in a special way. These special Masses support the work being done in the schools by our dedicated teachers and complement the school religion programme.
Our parish preparation seeks to provide an opportunity to establish links between home, school and parish in the young peoples preparation for Confirmation. It provides practical opportunities for the parish community to share faith with and support those preparing to receive this sacrament. It provides the young people with the experience of the involvement and interest of the local Church as they are completing their initiation into the Roman Catholic Church.
