Session 1 October of the first year
TEEN Session: Introduction to Confirmation
The goal of this session is to introduce the initiation sacrament of Confirmation by awakening in the life of the candidate the reality of God and encouraging the candidate to participate in the life of the parish community. Most of the session has ice breakers and other activities.
ADULT Session: Life-long Faith Formation.
Strong Catholic Families – Strong Catholic Youth. The goal of this session is to motive and engage parents to embrace their responsibility for the faith development of their children and grow the domestic church in the home. Also, to motivate and engage parishes/schools to accompany, support and equip parents and families in passing the faith to their children. We often have one of the Archdiocesan Youth Ministry team members present this session.
Session 2 November of the first year
TEEN Session: Discipleship
The goal of session is to introduce Service to the Candidates. Service is an integral component of the Confirmation Preparation Process. During the session the candidates will gain an understanding that service is the way to live out the Gospel values. The candidates will hear from teens who have been involved in service projects and the candidates will be invited to consider how they are going to complete the service component of the Confirmation Process.
ADULT Session: Compassion
The goal of this session is to introduce the Church’s social teachings. Catholic Social Teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. In these brief reflections, we highlight several of the key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic social tradition.
Session 3 January of the first year
Combined TEEN and ADULT Session: Eucharist Calling us into Community.
This session includes a special guest speaker usually a national known speaker who will address both teens and their parents on the Parish theme. This session is only offered on a Sunday from 3:45-5:15. In the past years we have welcomed Jesse Manibusian and Michael Patin to this session.
Session 4 February of the first year
TEEN Session: Parables and Teachings of Jesus
The goal of this session is to introduce the parables and teachings of Jesus. Often, we have a guest scripture scholar who will break open the teachings and parables of Jesus. Then the candidates will be given a parable or teaching to examine and reinterpret in our modern settings. The groups of teens present their discoveries with the larger group.
ADULT Session: Jesus 202
The goal of this session is to examine how scripture can be used to make Catholic homemaking. Our guest speaker shares insights on living Gospel values in a teenage household.
Session 5 March of the first year
TEEN Session: Brothers and Sisters in Christ
The goal of this session is to inform teens about safety precautions from sexual and physical abuse and harassment, to remind teens of their self-worth, and to help them cherish and respect the bodies God gave each of us. If possible, we invite a survivor of abuse to share his or her story. If we cannot secure a speaker we often use recorded testimonies.
ADULT Session: Community Stakeholders
The goal of this session is to introduce to our families to the risks and challenges of living in our world today. We will look at the reality of human trafficking. Our guest speaker is a person of faith who is working to end human trafficking. They share the risks and dangers for our teens, and the challenges we have as disciples of Jesus Christ to end all forms of slavery and abuse.
Session 6 April of the first year
Combined TEEN and ADULT Session: Digging through the Sacraments
The goal of this session is to inform teens and their parents about our sacramental system. Throughout this session the teens and their parents will look at each sacrament from a historical and practical approach. Teens and their families will be able to talk about what each sacrament means to them.
Session 7 September of the second year
TEEN Session: Jesus and Religion
The goal of this session is to help our candidates see the church with new eyes. After viewing a video Why I Love Jesus but Hate Religion. The teens will look at the many points brought up by Bethke and juxtapose it to their experience of the Catholic Church. We will conclude the session by making personal care bags. The candidates are invited to bring gently used clothes to share with the Catholic teen shelter, Angels Flight.
ADULT Session: Spirituality and Religion
The goal of session is to prepare the parents for the ever-changing trends within their homes and how to encourage their teens to continue a Catholic way of life.
Session 8 October of the second year
TEEN Session: Beloved Disciples
Participants will look at the various disciples of Jesus and be introduced to the “person”, the beloved disciple. By the end of the session our candidates explore discipleship and to come to see where they are along the spectrum of being a beloved disciple.
ADULT Session: Compassion
The goal of session is to look at Compassion and Empathy. This session is based on the work Brene Brown. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. She spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy.
Session 9 November of the first year
Combined TEEN and ADULT Session: The Creed
This session divides the Creed into seven parts. Some teens and their parents prepare a ten-minute presentation on their section of the Creed. The presenters talk about what the Creed is saying, what is means to them and then they will ask the candidate and parent to talk about a question regarding their part of the creed.
Session 10 January of the second year
Combined TEEN and ADULT Session: Eucharist Calling us into Community
This session includes a special guest speaker usually a national known speaker who will address both teens and their parents on the theme of the Parish for any given year. This session is only offered on a Sunday from 6:30-8:30. This session includes a light dinner. In the past years we have welcomed Jesse Manibusian and Michael Patin to this session.
Session 11 February of the second year
TEEN Session: Reconciliation
During this session the teens will look at and share contemporary stories of missing the mark– sin. After the candidates share stories, a guest speaker will share the gift of the sacrament of Reconciliation. This session ends with a combined prayer service with the parents and candidates.
ADULT Session: Peace and Pardon in our communities
During this session the adults will look at the sacrament of Reconciliation. During this thoughtful session, our guest speaker will unpack the sacramental truths about this often-misunderstood Sacrament. This session ends with a combined prayer service with the parents and candidates.
Session 12 March of the second year
Combined TEEN and ADULT Session: Living my Vocation
This session includes a special guest speaker usually the confirming Bishop, or if he is unavailable another guest speaker will address Catholic Identity. During this session, candidates and their families will look at components of their lives that make them Catholic. Our guest speaker will share his/her story of coming to Catholic Discipleship. The session ends with a prayer service and the candidates will share how they intend of live out their discipleship in the Catholic Church.
