CONFIRMATION PREPARATION TIMELINE OF EVENTS

2024 & 2025 CANDIDATES

Confirmation Retreat (St. Anthony)

·      Saturday, September 20, 2025  ( 3pm - 6pm)

·      Sunday, September 21, 2025     (10am- 4pm)

Confirmation Preparation Session With Fr. Cyril

·      Wednesday, October 1, 2025 (6:30pm – 7:45pm)

Candidate Election by the Parish and Confirmation Rehearsal

·      Sunday, October 19, 2025 (11:30am Mass)
Sponsors must be present

Confirmation Mass

·      October 22, 2025 (5pm)

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA PARISH GIFT PARENTS MEETING – JUNE 16, 2025

Christian Admonition

A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (12:1-8)

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned.

For as in one body, we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Role of Parents in Faith Formation

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) Article 2223

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the “material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.” Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them.

            Sacramental Preparation (New Resource – Accession Press)

           Level 1 Confirmation – Journey to Confirmation Part 1 (Mondays 6:30pm – 8:00pm)

           Level 2 Confirmation - Journey to Confirmation Part 2 (Mondays 6:30pm – 8:00pm)

           (The Journey to Confirmation begins with a Retreat and ends with a Retreat)

           This includes twelve (12) catechetical Sessions plus other practical sessions

Confirmation candidates of each year are required to participate in the Easter Triduum Liturgies (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday Easter Vigil)

Confirmation Candidate Election by the parish will be on Holy Saturday

Mass Attendance (on Sundays and on Holy Days) is a basic requirement for any serious Catholic

           Sadly, many families stay away from Mass

           Mass will be the first and most important element of GIFT

           Bulletin signing will continue

Participation in the Gift Sessions and Sacramental Preparation sessions are mandatory

           If a family or a child is to miss a session for a legitimate reason, prior notice should be given

Specific Family Situations should be made known to the Priest

All Information concerning the Gift and Sacramental Preparation process will be communicated to families through constant contact and will be available on the parish website.

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For more information please contact the parish office