Confirmation Class Info

Confirmation sponsors must be people who fully live out their Catholic faith, who will model the roles of priest, prophet, and king and inspire you with ways to practice these roles too. Don’t forget to consider your baptismal godparents. Because of the connection between Baptism and Confirmation, a godparent often makes a wonderful Confirmation sponsor. Spend some time in prayer and consider discussing your ideas with your parents. They can help you decide who to ask. 

Choosing a sponsor whose witness is empowered by the Spirit is an important part of Confirmation formation. Ideally, Confirmation sponsors act as mentors—role models in the faith—inviting you into greater participation in the life of the Church.

The guidelines for sponsors are outlined in the Code of Canon Low, Canons 892 and 893. They are:

• A sponsor sees that the person to be confirmed acts as a true witness to Christ, faithfully fulfilling the obligations connected with Confirmation.
• A Confirmation sponsor is preferably one of the baptismal sponsors – your Godparents.
• A sponsor should be at least 16 years of age and a fully-initiated Catholic – they have received all three sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation.
• A sponsor must leads a faith-filled life.
• Parents may not be sponsors.

As you begin to think about who to ask, you will want to consider these questions:

• Who do you respect and trust?
• Who do you think could help you as you prepare for Confirmation?
• Who do you think could help you as you continue to grow as a Catholic after your Confirmation?

Once you have selected a sponsor, please have them complete the Confirmation Sponsor Selection form and return it to the parish office. 

Confirmation Sponsor Selection Form

Please note that if a sponsor is from another parish they must also have the Confirmation Sponsorship Form completed by their home parish and sent to our parish office.

Form for sponsors from another parish

Your name gives you an identity; it tells others who you are. When you were born and baptized, your parents chose your baptismal name – your first and middle names. If you do not know why your parents chose your name, ask them – there is probably a story!

The tradition of taking on a new name to show a new role can be traced back to the Old Testament. When Abram was called to lead his people to believe in the one God, his name was changed from Abram, meaning “father of many” to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations.” This continues in the New Testament when Simon’s name was changed to Peter, meaning “rock” because he was to become the rock upon which Jesus founded His Church.

Now that you are about to begin your own new role through the sacrament of Confirmation, it is time for YOU to choose the name you will take as a sign of your growth in faith. You could focus on the link with your Baptism by using your baptismal name for your Confirmation or you could choose a different name that reflects the person you’d like to become. Talk to family, friends, your sponsor, and everyone about how they chose their Confirmation name. Do research online following the links below. In the process, you will learn more about biblical heroes and saints: people who lived the Catholic faith fully, whose lives gave a prophetic witness to the truth. This could be a saint’s name or the name of a model Christian person whom you admire – a grandparent, family friend, etc. 

Your Confirmation name should reflect your new role as a mature Christian. Perhaps you would like to take the name of a person whom you admire. Many Confirmation candidates, recognizing the growing bond of love with their family and take a parent or grandparent’s name. Please remember that your confirmation name must be a Saint’s name, a variation of that name or a Holy name. In addition, you can only choose one name.

Here are a few good web sites for browsing when choosing your Confirmation name:

Catholic On-Line: https://www.catholic.org/saints/

Catholic Information Online: http://www.cin.org/saintlink.html

RCL Benzinger: http://saintsresource.com/saints-index-alphabetical

Sisters of Carmel Patron Saint Index: https://www.sistersofcarmel.com/catholic-patron-saint-index/

Remember, in choosing a saint:

• Choose a saint that you want to be like. Maybe he or she had the same struggles as you and had a way of working with these struggles that you admire.
• You may want to ask your parents which saint you were named after and look up that saint. See if your life reflects his or her life.
• Saints were ordinary people who strove to do God’s will. A TV interviewer questioned Mother Theresa: “What are you trying to do, become a saint?”  She responded, “Yes. Shouldn’t we all strive for that?”
• Prayerfully choose your saint. Ask God to help you in making your choice.

Confirmation names must be chosen and submitted online here by January 28, 2024 or before.

Works of Service

When a child is baptized in the Catholic Church their parents and godparents take on the baptismal promises on behalf of their child. Later, at Confirmation, the Confirmandi renew those promises themselves. As baptized Christians, we are all called to bear witness to the Christian faith in words and deeds – this means that what we say and what we DO must reflect that we are followers of Jesus. In preparing for Confirmation, our students will be tasked with working to follow Jesus’ model of service. 

 Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.  -Matthew 25:40

 This model of service is a central theme of our faith, therefore an important part of formation for the sacrament of Confirmation for our students is learning to dedicate their time and talent to others. During this final year of Confirmation formation, students will learn more about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and perform works of service in their family, parish, school and community. Instead of focusing on a set number hours, the goal is for students to experience the joy of serving others. The Sacrament of Confirmation is freely given as a gift from our Church, the Church instituted by Jesus Christ. The Sacraments can never be earned by a set number of service hours. We feel that as our students grow in their love for Jesus, their natural reaction will be a desire to go out and serve in the world. 

We know that for some students it might be easier to begin the service journey close to home. So we ask teens to begin serving in their families and our greater parish family this summer. This could be service at home, in their neighborhood or in our parish. 

Below are some examples of works of service in your family, neighborhood or parish. We ask students to complete at least one work before the meeting in September. 

Serving in your family, neighborhood and parish ideas – complete at least one

Remember service is freely given, not something you are paid to do. These should be tasks YOU initiate. Ask your family, neighbors what you can do to help them. Read the bulletin or ask in the parish office for opportunities to help your parish family.  

 Service in your family or neighborhood

• Helping with yardwork
• Cleaning inside or outside the house
• Doing or helping with laundry
• Babysitting
• Helping with homework
• Preparing and/or cooking meals

Service in your parish family

• Serving at Mass as an altar server, greeter or singing with the choir

• Volunteering at the parish festival, fish fry, or another parish event
  Assisting the parish Landscape Committee 

• Helping to clean the church

Parish & Family Service Reflection Sheet

Corporal Works of Mercy Ideas – Complete at least two

Feed the Hungry

• Make sandwiches for a shelter.
• Keep granola bars in your car to pass out to people in need at stoplights.
• Volunteer with St. Vincent DePaul in delivering food to foodbanks.
• Volunteer at a food bank.
• Organize a food fast and donate the proceeds to Catholic Relief Services.
• Serve at a soup kitchen.
• Prepare and take a meal to someone in your community who is seriously ill or welcoming home a newborn.
• Help out at a Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast or Lenten fish fry.
• Host a food drive at your school or with a team.

Give Drink to the Thirsty

• Pass out water bottles to the homeless.
• Have a “donations only” lemonade stand and use the proceeds to Living Water International or any other water charity of your choice.
• Take water to a neighbor doing yard work.
• Donate baby formula to a local pregnancy help center.
• Work a drink station at a local charity race.

Bury the Dead

• Attend wakes and/or funerals of those you knew.
• Volunteer with a hospice program.
• Volunteer for a funeral luncheon.
• Help a widow or widower in need with yard work or errands.
• Visit the cemetery and pray for the dead.
• Organize a group to help clean up a local cemetery.
• Donate to ministries that offer free Catholic burials to those who are unable to afford one.

Clothe the Naked

• Go through your closet and give away what you don’t need.
• Host a clothing drive and donate the items.
• Knit, crochet, or sew baby blankets for your local pregnancy help center.
• Knit, crochet, or sew scarves, hats, and gloves for your local homeless shelter.

Shelter the Homeless

• Help build homes with Habitat for Humanity or other organizations.
• Volunteer to do manual labor to help in the upkeep of a homeless shelter.
• Keep a list of local homeless shelters on hand to pass out to those you meet on the street.
• Donate money or supplies to a foster care agency.
• Help a family working towards adoption by hosting a fundraiser for them.

 Clothe the Naked

• Go through your closet and give away what you don’t need.
• Host a clothing drive and donate the items.
• Knit, crochet, or sew baby blankets for your local pregnancy help center.
• Knit, crochet, or sew scarves, hats, and gloves for your local homeless shelter.

Shelter the Homeless

• Help build homes with Habitat for Humanity or other organizations.
• Volunteer to do manual labor to help in the upkeep of a homeless shelter.
• Keep a list of local homeless shelters on hand to pass out to those you meet on the street.
• Donate money or supplies to a foster care agency.
• Help a family working towards adoption by hosting a fundraiser for them.

Visit the Sick

• Volunteer at a hospital.
• Volunteer at a nursing home.
• Send flowers or a card to someone who is in the hospital.
• Sponsor an elderly person through the Catholic Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA).
• Go with someone who takes the Eucharist to the homebound in your community.
• Visit a seriously or terminally ill member of your parish.

Visit the Imprisoned

• Donate Bibles and/or spiritual reading materials to a prison ministry (drop-off to parish office).
• Write to a teen at a juvenile correction center and tell them you are praying for them.
• Visit a family member or friend who is incarcerated with your parent or sponsor.

Corporal Works of Mercy Reflection Sheet