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Fr. Thomas Fallone Pastor 973-729-1682 Mrs. Phyllis Phillips Youth Minister [email protected] 973-729-4722
Mass Schedule
Monday through Friday
8:15 AM
Saturday 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Confession in the Reconciliation Chapel
Other times by Appointment
Saturday Evening Vigil 5:00 PM
Sunday Eucharistic Celebration
8:00 AM, 9:30AM, 11:30AM, 6:00PM
Confirmation Sponsors Booklet
Introduction
Congratulations! You have been chosen to be a sponsor for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Although the actual celebration of the sacrament doesn’t take place until May, there is a good deal of preparation that takes place before this time, both on the part of your candidate and yourself as sponsor. As a sponsor, you will testify by your presence, your confidence and support of your candidate before the Roman Catholic community. This is an honor, but the responsibility is much more profound. You will become part of a tradition in our faith, which began in the early Church. You will become a source of support and encouragement to the Confirmation candidate. You will be asked to walk with the young person who has chosen you. This means that you must be willing to be a mentor and companion, to pray and live the message of the Gospel. We would hope this spiritual relationship which is beginning now, will continue after the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. The way you do this, of course, depends on you and your relationship with the candidate.
Plan to spend some time together with your candidate. Perhaps go out for dinner or pizza together, and spend some special time sharing the
gift of your faith by using some of the ideas included in this booklet. It will surely be an enriching experience for both you and your candidate. The candidates were instructed to reflect on the qualities of a sponsor. They were encouraged to choose
someone with whom they would want to walk as they continue to grow and make choices in their lives, someone they admire for the Christian values by which they live. How fortunate they are to have someone special to offer them ongoing support and encouragement, and to be there for them as a role model as they continue to develop their own values! We hope you find this booklet helpful in understanding the importance of the role you play in the life of the candidate you are sponsoring. Our parish website may also prove to be a good resource for you. It is updated frequently and is a good source of information about the events and happenings available for young people in our parish.
The youth ministry staff at Saint Kateri Parish is here to support you as well. You will find the names and telephone numbers for the pastor and youth ministry staff members listed inside the front cover of this booklet. Please feel free to contact any one of us with your questions or concerns.
What is Confirmation?
Some may remember Confirmation as the moment when their identity changed: they “received the Holy Spirit” and became “soldiers of Christ”. A more contemporary definition of the Sacrament of Confirmation is as a sacrament of mature Christian commitment. It is the occasion when young people baptized as infants put their “personal signature” on their parents’ decision. Our earliest ancestors in faith did not distinguish Confirmation from Baptism. The apostle presiding over the little community baptized new members, anointed them with oil and offered them the Eucharist for the first time in one rite of initiation. (The same thing happens today at the Easter Vigil when adults wishing to become Catholic are initiated.) As the Church grew and spread throughout the world, the apostles’ successors, the bishops, could no longer personally baptize every new Christian. They delegated the rite to priests. Still, the bishops made regular visits to local communities to confirm the priests’ baptisms with a second anointing. Thus a separate sacrament was born. Confirmation is still, with Baptism and Eucharist, a sacrament of initiation.
Preparation for Confirmation includes learning to articulate what it means to be a Catholic Christian. It is the faith that we express in word and deed. Confirmation, like other sacraments of initiation, marks the beginning of a journey toward deeper knowledge of God. At Confirmation, the newly confirmed are strengthened by the Holy Spirit with special gifts to help them live as faithful followers and true witnesses of Jesus Christ. These gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom and understanding; right judgment and courage; knowledge and reverence, and wonder and awe in God’s presence. Confirmation has long been delayed until a baptized infant could reach some understanding of these things – at least until the age of reason (about seven) and often until mid-adolescence as it is celebrated here at Saint Kateri Parish in the Diocese of Paterson. After two years of study, prayer and Christian service, young people stand before the representative of the larger Church, the Bishop of the Diocese of Paterson, and are anointed with perfumed oil (chrism) blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday. They can say with knowledge they lacked as newly baptized infants: “Yes, this is my Church. I accept the faith of this Church as my faith.”
What is the Role of Confirmation Sponsor All About?
As a Confirmation sponsor you are asked to become mentor and guide to a young person who has made a conscious decision to accept the Roman Catholic faith as his or her own by receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. While many young people enter the preparation process for Confirmation at the prodding of their parents, the decision to receive this sacrament after two years of preparation is truly their own! The tradition of choosing a sponsor reaches back to the first centuries of Christianity. New converts to the faith spent several years living with someone already following the ways of Jesus. This Christian, their sponsor, was a living model of faith, one who prayed and worshipped with them, one of whom they could ask questions in order to begin understanding Gospel teaching. When you said, “Yes, I will be your sponsor,” you agreed to embark upon a journey – a journey of faith – where your path of faith intersects with that of a candidate for Confirmation. During the time you travel together, you will explore one another’s faith experiences, practices and attitudes about the Church. You will be asked to listen actively and think critically, and to reflect on God’s love and God’s vision
for humanity, in which you share. Your faith and experience of God and your willingness to share them are the most essential items you will carry. You will find acceptance and openness to be essential. Teens often are longing for an adult who will put aside prejudgments of their clothing and behavior in order to hear the things they are not saying. Of equal importance are honesty, flexibility and patience. Your role is primarily companion, mentor and guide. Still, as co-journeyers, sometimes you will teach and sometimes you will be taught.
So, Where Do I Begin?
Start out by trusting in and digesting the fact that you are significant in the eyes of the young person who chose you as his/her sponsor. He or she gave your name to the youth minister for some reason. The young person may not even be able to verbalize or explain the reason. This doesn’t matter. It could be an instinctual recognition of your goodness or excellence in those young eyes. Enjoy the fact! There is an implicit challenge in being a Confirmation sponsor or in being a Christian adult to whom a young person looks up to. But it’s a wonderful challenge, and it will help you to grow in human and spiritual maturity at the same time as you help this young person to grow. The young person who chose you as sponsor did so because he/she sees in you a faith they would like to model. This doesn’t mean you have to try to live up to an unattainable standard, it simply means that your faith is authentic. You have a relationship with God that holds an important place in your life. It might be helpful here to spend some time reflecting on your own personal faith journey so that, in turn, you can share that journey with your candidate. Below you will find a timeline representing your life. Draw a curve representing your closeness or your
relationship with God in the various times of your life. High times should be indicated with an upward curve above the line, and low times with a downward curve below the line. Put an “I” (for “important”) for those times when God seemed very real to you in your life. Put a “D” (for “distant”) when God seemed very far away from you. Use the questions that follow to help form your answers.
Faith Line 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-21 22-35 36-50 51-now
(Years of age)
Questions for Reflection
1. As a child, the person who most influenced me
was Three words that describe that person are .
2. Someone in my life that I think is a good Christian is because
3. Something I have learned from him/her is
_
4. From my experience of all the people I have known, I have learned the most important thing about being Christian is __
5. To me God is:
6. The closest I ever felt to God was:
_______________ 7. The time I felt the most distant from God was:
_______________________________________ 8. Being a part of the Church is important to me
because: ________________________
How Can I Share My Faith With the Candidate
Who Has Chosen Me?
Here are a few things you can do as a Confirmation sponsor. Add these to your own ideas that come out of the relationship with your candidate.
• Be available and stay in touch about things that are happening in his/her life.
• See a movie together and discuss the values present or absent in the film.
• Explore a bookstore together. Help him/her discuss their likes and dislikes; beliefs and disbeliefs.
• Ask about his/her Confirmation classes and discuss the materials used there. Perhaps visit one of their classes.
• Explore the Bible and share your reflections on a passage you select. You might try using the Sunday readings. A great source for daily and Sunday readings is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website, www.usccb.org. They are available here as both written materials and in podcast format with commentaries.
• Celebrate the feast day of the saint for whom your candidate is named. Try this website for more information http://saints.sqpn.com
• Participate in parish liturgies, activities and events together.
• Attend communal penance services during Advent and Lent.
• Discuss an Advent or Lenten ritual you will both observe.
• Go to Ash Wednesday services together. This year Ash Wednesday is March 1st.
• Make a special effort to be present at events offered at Saint Kateri Parish for sponsors and candidates, especially Sponsor/Candidate Day about which you will be given additional information.
• Help your candidate make connections between his/her class, the parish, the diocese and the larger Church by visiting our diocesan Cathedral at Main and Grand Street in Paterson, NJ. Acquaint your candidate with our diocesan newspaper, the Beacon and other Catholic periodicals. A great source of information about the Diocese of Paterson is the website, www.patersondiocese.org
• Spend ten minutes a day praying for your candidate and all young people involved in the Confirmation program.
• Encourage and participate together in some sort of service and outreach
What Will My Role Be at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation?
The rite of Confirmation is the culminating ritual that highlights the awareness gained and relationships developed through the Confirmation preparation process, while it confers the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those about to be confirmed, their families and sponsors, the local community, the pastoral staff and the Bishop assemble to celebrate and recognize God’s presence through the Holy Spirit in this sacrament. According to The Rites of the Catholic Church, the rite of Confirmation occurs within a Mass. After the Liturgy of the Word and before the homily, the candidates are presented to the Bishop. Following the Bishop’s homily, the community renews their baptismal promises. Next, when the Bishop extends his hands over those to be confirmed, he repeats the ancient practice of laying on of hands, which signifies a dedication to God. As he does so, the Bishop prays that the young people will receive the Holy Spirit, saying: All-powerful God, Father of our Lord,
Jesus Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you free your sons and daughters from sin and give them new life. 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. Amen.
The candidate then approaches the bishop with his or her sponsor, who places their right hand on the candidate’s shoulder. The sponsor then presents the candidate to the bishop by his/her confirmation name. This name may be a given name, renewing the baptismal naming, or a new name taken to remember a saint’s faithful witness to Christ which will serve as a model of Catholic living for the candidate. The sacrament is conferred when the bishop dips his right thumb in the chrism—a special mixture of oil and balsam—makes the Sign of the Cross on the candidate’s forehead and says:
(Name), Be Sealed With The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit. The newly confirmed responds: Amen. The bishop says: Peace be with you. The newly confirmed responds: And with your spirit.
Afterward, the liturgy continues with General Intercessions (Prayers of the Faithful), Liturgy of the Eucharist (Communion) and the Final Blessing.
How Will My Relationship to the Newly Confirmed Continue After Confirmation?
Confirmation is both an event celebrating the reception of the Holy Spirit and a lifelong process of reflecting upon God’s active presence in our lives. Just because the newly confirmed has received the sacrament and the ritual event has ended, this doesn’t mean that your newly confirmed candidate no longer needs your mentoring and support! Your continued presence in the life of this young person as he/she faces the challenges of adulthood can offer him/her wisdom and a connection to faith. You may share the resulting struggles and joys of incorporating faith, beliefs and values into life, much as you did during the preparation process.
� You might want to observe a simple celebration of the anniversary of the reception of the sacrament or begin to explore new ways of spending time together.
� As time goes on, you may find ways of commemorating rites of passage, such as getting a job or passing the driver’s exam, as well as times of crisis, such as a failed relationship or the death of a loved one.
� Investigate two parish ministries the newly confirmed might be interested in joining.
� Celebrate special parish feast days and Holy Days such as the Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha on July 14th, Feast of the
Immaculate Conception on December 8th or the Feast of the Assumption on August 15th.
It is hoped that the newly confirmed has established a sense of belonging and commitment to the Catholic community at Saint Kateri Parish during this journey. If not, now is the time to encourage that involvement. Ultimately, the objective of the sacramental process is to prepare a young person for a life of faith. Your ability to help your newly confirmed candidate recognize their gifts and find places to share the energy they generate will help demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is alive and active throughout creation. As a sponsor, you will have led the way and will continue to influence the newly confirmed’s personal and spiritual growth.
Sponsor’s Prayerponsor’s Prayerponsor’s Prayerponsor’s Prayer God of all ages, you send out your Spirit to touch the hearts of people so that they may believe in you and in Jesus, whom you sent. Look kindly on all candidates as they listen to your voice. Open their hearts to your Spirit and bring to fulfillment the good work you have begun in them. As I reach out to welcome this candidate into the Church, make me an instrument of your love. Teach me to reverence what is holy in others, and to be patient with what I do not understand. Deepen my faith in the Gospel and help me to pass it on by good example. To those who are hesitant or afraid, let me offer encouragement.
For those who are weak, let me be a source of strength. I humbly accept the ministry of sponsor and pray that you will continue to guide me and sustain me in welcoming this candidate to your household. I praise you through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, enlighten our minds to perceive the mysteries of the universe in relation to eternity. Spirit of right judgment and courage, guide us and make us firm in our baptismal decision to follow Jesus' way of love. Spirit of knowledge and reverence, help us to see the lasting value of justice and mercy in our everyday dealings with one another. May we respect life as we work to solve problems of family and nation, economy and ecology. Spirit of God, spark our faith, hope and love into new action each day. Fill our lives with wonder and awe in your presence which penetrates all creation. Amen.
This year we will hold one Confirmation ceremony. It will be celebrated by:
Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Bishop of the Diocese
of Paterson.
Confirmation Date Monday, May 22nd, at
7:15 PM Rehearsal: Sunday, May 21st– 7:30PM in the
church.
Below you will find information about Sponsor/Candidate Day. This afternoon of reflection is a wonderful chance for you and your candidate to exchange thoughts and feelings about your faith and listen to some great guest speakers. The day begins with prayer and ends with an opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Light refreshments will be served.
Sponsor-Candidate Day,
Sunday, May 7, 2017
1-5 PM in the Community Room
of the church
