2026-27 Confirmation Program Components
Overview
- Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
- In-person catechesis
- Vocation Project—1 per Academic Year
- Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
- A Confirmation Retreat
- Student’s Request to Receive the Sacrament of Confirmation
- A Letter to the Bishop
- A “Confirmation Conversation” (a Confirmation Interview)
Detailed View
1. Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
Regular participation in Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation is a basic expectation of those who are seeking the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Confirmation Sponsors should see that students/candidates are regularly participating in Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation.
2. In-Person Catechesis
a. While grades 7-10 have two options for the in-person catechesis portion of the program, 11th Grade Confirmation students
do not have that same option.
This is because the period of Immediate Confirmation Preparation is less oriented to lecture-style catechetical lessons, and is more geared
toward spiritual reflection and personal preparedness to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The sacramental prep work which the 11th Graders will engage in cannot be done quickly in a two-week Summer period.
b. Our 11th Grade Confirmation students will be using the “Chosen” set of materials published by Ascension Press. This text and materials are
intended for use in a Catholic parish religious education program, and are designed specifically for high schoolers preparing to receive
the Sacrament of Confirmation.
3. Vocation Projects—1 per academic year
The goal of “service projects” or “service hours” in high school faith formation programs is generally to teach students that our Catholic
faith and Christian Initiation leads a person to “live out” and “practice” his or her faith. With the St. Gabriel Faith Formation Program,
we would like students to focus specifically on their own sense of vocation and calling from God, and to do projects which express and explore
that personal sense of calling and vocation.
One project per academic year will be required (1 project in 9th Grade, 1 project in 10th Grade, and 1 project in 11th Grade).
These projects should not be approached as something the student “has to do,” but as an opportunity for students to explore their
God-given potential. Below are some possible vocation project ideas. But this list is not at all exhaustive, and students are free to
think of ideas which are not on the list below. In fact, students should be creative in tailoring their vocation projects to fit their
sense of life purpose at this time in their lives:
– Organize prayer for the faithful departed in the cemetery
– Assist with cemetery groundskeeping (for example, weed eating)
– Assist with planning and celebrating the annual All Soul’s Mass of Remembrance
– Commit to praying the Liturgy of the Hours (Morning, Prayer, Evening Prayer, or Compline) for one month
– Visit the homebound or those in assisted living (with Pastoral Minister and peers)
– Commit to Altar Serving (once a month, Sept through April—although, more often is welcomed!)
– Serve as an assistant catechist (for 4 class period) for the younger grades
– Foster prayer among your family at home (e.g., lead the Rosary once a week, hang religious art in the home,
watch content on formed.org as a family for an hour a month)
– Organize Rosary walks with others around your neighborhood
– Participate in monthly Pastoral Council meetings at the parish
– Study and write a history of the parish
STUDENTS—PLEASE CONSULT WITH TINA BEFORE COMMITTING TO A VOCATION PROJECT.
THIS CAN BE DONE BY SUBMITTING A PROJECT IDEA THROUGH THE PARISH WEBSITE here AND GETTING IT APPROVED.
4. Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
Learning standard prayers of the Catholic faith is a cumulative effort.
Starting in 1st Grade, students learn new prayers each year, building up a repertoire of prayers they can draw upon from memory throughout life.
These prayers are learned with the help of parents and are reinforced during Faith Formation classes and Sunday Mass.
Click Here for a list of standard Catholic prayers and the year during which a student should be learning them.
11th Graders will be responsible for knowing the prayers up through 10th Grade,
and will be responsible for learning the Divine Mercy Chaplet during 11th Grade.
5. A Confirmation Retreat
More information will be coming in Fall 2026 regarding the Confirmation Retreat.
6. Student’s Request to Receive the Sacrament of Confirmation
The sacraments of the Church cannot ever be forced on an individual. Rather, the sacraments are freely requested and the Church responds.
Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation requires the student to take on the adult responsibilities of being true to the faith, spreading the faith,
and following the sometimes-difficult road of being a faithful disciple of the Lord. The responsibility of the individual in living out the
Christian calling can only be taken up by the individual—with the help of the community and God’s grace.
If they desire to be confirmed, students should complete the “Confirmation Request” form found HERE, and submit it to Father.
This should be done by Jan. 1, 2027.
** If a student has any reservations about being confirmed, the student should contact Father so they can talk through it.
7. A Letter to the Bishop
The Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) are not automatically given. A person needs to request these and
all the sacraments of his or her own free will. God invites us into eternal friendship with him, but he does not force us to accept the invitation.
Writing a letter to the Bishop to request the Sacrament of Confirmation is one way the student expresses how he or she has freely chosen to be
more closely identified with Jesus Christ in the way they live life. That free choice is reaffirmed every Sunday when the student says “Amen”
to the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Letters will be written during regular class times in Spring 2027, with catechists offering assistance.
The students’ letters will be grouped together and sent to the Bishop by Father.
8. A “Confirmation Conversation” (a Confirmation Interview)
This informal, casual conversation between the student and Father (or another catechist) is an opportunity for students to share how they personally
experience faith in Jesus, and how they personally live out that faith on a day-to-day basis. It should be approached as “faith sharing,” rather than
as a test (which it isn’t intended to be).
These “confirmation conversations” will take place during regular class times in the Spring of 2027.