Confirmation
Dear Confirmation candidates,
First Session Next Week!
The beginning of our Confirmation sessions is fast approaching, and I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody together for the first time next Tuesday (16th Jan), 7pm in St Osmund’s Parish Hall. Please arrive ready to start at 7pm; the session will be 90mins, so pickup at 8.30pm.
Next week will be an informal introduction to the journey we’re going to make over the next few months. We‘ll get some pizzas in, so make sure to leave a bit of room for a couple of slices! 🍕
Confirmation Retreat Details
After that, the next time we meet will be for our weekend retreat! When I last wrote, I said we’d booked a place on the Isle of Wight—which was true, except they later came back to say they’d made a mistake and couldn’t accommodate us after all. So instead, we will be going to Buckfast Abbey, near Dartmoor.
We will travel together on minibuses, leaving from St Osmund’s Primary School (round the corner from the church, on Carmelite Way). Please meet in the school car park at 4.45pm ready to depart at 5pm on the Friday night. We hope to arrive back for 4pm on the Sunday afternoon.
Participants will need: bedding (eg. sleeping bag & pillow), towel, waterproof coat & shoes for walking, a Bible, and snacks for the bus (we’ll have supper when we arrive, but that may not be until 8ish).
The retreat will cost the parish around £2,000—but we have received a generous donation from a private benefactor, which brings the cost down to around £65 per head, for the 2 nights, food, activities, and transport. This can of course be paid in installments if that helps. However, if any families would really struggle to afford this, then please do talk to us privately—cost need not be an obstacle for anybody.
As you are all under 18, we need your parent/s to complete and return to us the attached Consent Form by Wednesday 17 January – the best way may be to print off, complete and ask your parent/s to sign and bring the form along with you on Tuesday. Printing, signing, scanning and returning by email is also fine if that’s easy for you.
Course Expectations
As a reminder, the initial sessions are:
Tuesday 16th Jan
Friday 26th to Sunday 28th (Retreat)
Tuesday 30th
Tuesday 13th Feb
Sunday 24th March (Palm Sunday)
Our expectation is that anybody wishing to be confirmed will attend all the sessions, and that we’ll see you at Mass on Sundays.
Finally, a heads up: please do start thinking now about who you might want to be your sponsor for Confirmation. This should be a practising Catholic who you feel able to talk to about your faith. We’d like them to be a part of this journey with you from the beginning.
Very much looking forward to seeing you next week and getting underway!
In Christ always,
Fr Joseph.
The Sacrament of Confirmation calls us to live a life of holiness and obedience to God’s will. That call is primarily through a renewal of our baptismal promises that were, in most cases, made for us by our parents when we were baptised. The Sacrament is usually conferred by a bishop who lays his hands on those being confirmed and anoints them on the forehead with holy oil. By these signs the grace of their Baptism is completed. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and the many gifts He has to offer, as the apostles were at Pentecost, and they are united more firmly with Christ and His Church.
The celebration of Confirmation for our young people is another highlight of our church year which normally takes places in May or June. If you would like to understand more about Confirmation, click here and take some time to read and watch the videos.
The Church identifies three roles for Confirmation sponsors: First, as a role-model in the faith. Because of this, the Church asks that a sponsor be at least sixteen years of age, be fully initiated in the Church (has celebrated the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation), and be a practicing member of the Church. Second, a sponsor is a companion on the candidate's faith journey. Ideally, this should/could be one of the candidate's baptismal godparents. This is encouraged by the Church to show the close connection between the two sacraments. Finally, the Confirmation sponsor witnesses for the candidate before the Church. By their presence at the Confirmation celebration, the sponsor publicly proclaims the candidate's readiness.
Sacraments are not "things" that happen on someone else's timetable. There is no penalty for waiting to be Confirmed. What is important is that each candidate feels ready and willing to undertake the responsibilities of the Christian life.
Confirmation can be conferred when a baptised individual is determined to have the use of reason, has been suitably prepared and is properly disposed and able to renew their baptismal promises. In practice, the most common age to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation is around 14. We invite anyone who is in School Year 9 or above to join our programme of preparation.
If you are an adult who has not been Confirmed and would like to be prepared to receive this sacrament, please contact Fr Michael or Fr Saji on 333581.