Important Dates

Confirmation Parent Meetings

St. Mary School Families (Back to School Night):
Thursday, August 23, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

St. Mary Parish Families (non-school):
Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 6:30pm - 7:30pm in Joachim Hall
-or- Sunday, September 23, 2012, 3:30pm - 4:30pm in Ave Maria Hall

Deadline for Registration

• Friday, September 14, 2012
  Registration Form

Rite of Initiation (Sponsors Attend)

• November 7, 2012 - 5:00pm – 8:00pm (Includes 5:00 pm Youth Mass)

Rite of Acceptance (Sponsors Attend)

• March 10, 2013 - 5:00pm – 8:00pm (Includes 5:00 pm Youth Mass)

Confirmation Retreat

• December 1 - 2, 2012 at the Ponderosa Retreat Center, Larkspur, CO

Oneight Confirmation Super Sundays

Required for students not attending St. Mary School

• TBD

Edge Middle School Youth Ministry

Students not attending St. Mary School must attend 2/3 of the Edge Nights. Attendance strongly encouraged for St. Mary School students.

• Wednesdays, 6:30pm – 8:00pm in the Youth Room

The Sacrament of Confirmation

• Rehearsal: TBD
• Confirmation: TBD

---

Confirmation Sacramental Requirements:

For students not attending St. Mary Parish School

• Must attend Mass every Sunday.
  This is a covenantal obligation of every Catholic.
• Must attend every Oneight Super Sunday (One Sunday morning a month).
  Oneight will meet on Sunday mornings once a month. These are a series of nights intended for sacramental preparation and run by a group of adult leaders and the youth minister. We arranged our sacramental preparation nights to meet only once a month in order to accommodate those who have weekly commitments. In the case where an Oneight meeting conflicts with an extra-curricular activity, the Oneight meeting must come first.
• Must attend 2/3 of Edge Middle School Youth Groups.
  Edge is our comprehensive youth program for students in junior high/middle school (Grades 7-8). This program will be debuting in September. This is a minimum requirement. Edge will provide the general catechesis that is necessary to supplement the Confirmation preparation at Oneight Sundays.
• Must Pass a Written Examination
  A short exam will be administered at the end of the formation process. It will test knowledge and memorization of basic Catholic teachings and principles. The exam, the exam answers, will be given to parents in September for the purposes of preparing the candidate for the exam. The material may or may not be covered in our formation this year, so parents or sponsors are expected to review the exam with the candidate and prepare them accordingly. If the exam is failed, it may be retaken. The purpose of the exam is simply to be sure that someone is not being presented to the bishop for the Sacrament of Confirmation without having basic knowledge of their faith (i.e. the Creed).
• Must Attend a Confirmation Retreat
  The purpose of a retreat is to depart from one's life for a period of time so as to be intentional about listening to and engaging with God. The best retreats are time intensive and require an environment suitable for its purpose. Because of this, our Confirmation retreat not be hosted at St. Mary’s parish. We want to be sure to retreat from our lives. The retreat will be an overnight weekend at the Ponderosa Retreat Center in Larkspur, CO. The retreat will be directed by the Associate Youth Minister and members of the Edge Youth Ministry Core Team. The retreat dates are December 1 - 2, 2012.
• Must Attend all Rites for the Sacrament of Confirmation
  There are a two Sundays in which there will be specific Rites celebrated for those preparing for Confirmation. The candidates must attend those Rites. The Rite of Entrance should also be attended by parents and the Rite of Acceptance should be attended by sponsors.
• Must Complete a Short Report on the Patron Saint Selected for their Confirmation Name
  Every candidate will select patron saint’s name to be Confirmed by. The candidate will have to write a short report on the life of the saint.

---

Confirmation Sacramental Requirements:

For students attending St. Mary Parish School

• Must attend Mass every Sunday
  This is a covenantal obligation of every Catholic.
• Must complete all assignments and sacramental requirements outlined by St. Mary’s Catholic School and score sufficient grades in Religion classes. The primary method of catechesis for students enrolled at St. Mary’s Catholic School will take place in the classroom.
• Must Attend a Confirmation Retreat
  The purpose of a retreat is to depart from one’s life for a period of time so as to be intentional about listening to and engaging with God. The best retreats are time intensive and require an environment suitable for its purpose. Because of this, our Confirmation retreat will no longer be hosted at St. Mary’s parish. We want to be sure to retreat from our lives. Because of this, our Confirmation retreat not be hosted at St. Mary’s parish. We want to be sure to retreat from our lives. The retreat will be an overnight weekend at the Ponderosa Retreat Center in Larkspur, CO. The retreat will be directed by the Associate Youth Minister and members of the Edge Youth Ministry Core Team. The retreat dates are December 1 - 2, 2012.
• Must Attend all Rites for the Sacrament of Confirmation
  There are a few Sundays in which there will be specific Rites celebrated for those preparing for Confirmation. The candidates must attend those Rites.

---

Parent Requirements

This year, we have introduced “Discipleship Nights” at our parish for the whole community. Discipleship Nights are intended to educate the entire parish community to the teachings of the faith. This year, we are requiring all parents who have kids preparing for a sacrament, to attend a few “Discipleship Nights” as well so that they are receiving the same education and formation that their children are. Discipleship Nights meet every Wednesday in Ave Maria Hall from 6:30pm – 7:30pm.

 

The required sessions for parents are:

• TBD

---

Communication

When you fill out the registration form, please be sure to write down your email address. The Youth Ministry Department will communicate regularly by email throughout the year. Even if you are a St. Mary School family and the school has your email address, please provide it again on the form. Our parish youth ministry is not on the Fast Direct system, so we need to be able to reach you via direct email.

---

Choosing a Saint Name and Sponsor

• Every candidate for the Sacrament of Confirmation will be confirmed by the name of a Patron Saint. The saint name must be a Catholic Saint or Blessed.
• A Sponsor is selected for every Candidate for Confirmation. The Sponsor’s role is to give spiritual guidance in preparation for Confirmation. Therefore, they must be a good and practicing Catholic. Sponsors will be required to attend certain sessions and rites with the candidate. If a sponsor cannot attend, we ask that someone fill-in in their place. The youth ministry office can provide a fill-in if asked in advance.

---

The Role of a Confirmation Sponsor

Selection of a prospective sponsor

Now is the time to decide on a sponsor for your Confirmation Candidate. All candidates should have their sponsors selected by October 1, 2012. The following are guidelines for selecting a sponsor:

• Must be at least 16 years of age
• Must be a fully initiated Catholic (Received Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation)
• Attend Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and be a Catholic in good standing
• Living a life of Christian Virtue
• Not be bound by any canonical sanctions, such as divorce and remarriage without an annulment
• Not be a father or mother of the one to be confirmed
• Assist the pastor, parents and catechist in discerning the readiness of the candidate for the sacrament of Confirmation

Church Canon Law prohibits the parents of the one being confirmed from acting as a sponsor for their child. (Parents may only present their child for Confirmation.) It is desirable that the one who undertook the role of godparent at Baptism be the sponsor for Confirmation. Other possibilities are a friend of the family, an adult parish member, or a family member who is not a parent.

Confirmation sponsors accompany the confirmation candidate when they receive the sacrament, present them to the Bishop, and support and help them to fulfill their baptismal promises with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The sponsor must be a practicing Catholic, able to receive communion at Mass and have themselves been confirmed. They may be either male or female (can be the opposite sex of the candidate) and may stand for only one candidate.

The following are some ways in which you as sponsor can assist the Confirmation candidate and fulfill our common goal:

• Dialogue. Share your faith with the candidate. Discuss the significance of the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit" (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord).
• Periodically review with the candidate what he or she is learning.
• Pray for your candidate every day. Pray with your candidate often!

Of course, not all sponsors will be able to do all of these things due to distance, prior commitments, and other various reasons. The important thing is that the sponsors act as mentors to the candidates and do whatever they can to make the experience of Confirmation preparation meaningful.

---

Baptism Certificate

We will need a copy of your child’s Baptism Certificate for the purposes of Sacramental reporting. Please turn in a copy or have it sent to us. Baptism Certificates can be obtained by contacting the parish of Baptism and requesting that they send us a copy. If your child was baptized here at St. Mary, we still need you to contact our front office at 303-798-8506 and ask that they place a copy in Everett Fritz’s mailbox.

If your child attends St. Mary Catholic School, we should already have your Baptism Certificate on file.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the difference between Edge and Oneight?

  It is important to understand that Edge is not our parish’s Confirmation program. The Edge program will be a comprehensive youth ministry program for all middle school youth (7th and 8th grade) – confirmed or not yet confirmed. The Edge is a non-classroom model – communicating the faith in a youth group that will feature games, small groups, short talks, skits, activities, worship, prayer, sacraments, fellowship and media presentations. This model also provides us the opportunity to offer retreats, conferences, service outreach, fun activities and mission trips for middle school youth. It is a stellar program, intended to engage all middle school youth at the St. Mary’s parish.

  Oneight is our Confirmation preparation program. It is only for candidates seeking Confirmation; not all middle school youth. Oneight will specifically focus on the necessary information for Confirmation preparation and the catechesis will be presented in the same style as Life Teen and the Edge. While Edge will meet every week, Oneight will only meet one Sunday morning each month.

  Traditionally, parish Confirmation preparation programs generally meet every week for classes. These classes cover the necessary components of Confirmation as well as providing an education in the general basics of Catholicism. What we have done, is separated those two elements. Oneight will provide the education in the necessary components of Confirmation preparation. Rather than having the Confirmation candidates attend classes every week to receive the general basics of Catholicism, we simply want to integrate them into the Edge where they can receive their general formation. So Edge is not a Confirmation program. It is more correct to say, “We are integrating a component of Confirmation preparation into the Edge Middle School Youth Ministry Program.”

• Why the shift from a classroom style to a Youth Group style for middle school?

  Our parish and clergy are very committed to developing youth ministry at St. Mary’s. Current studies show that teenagers are much more likely to remain engaged in Catholicism throughout their lives if they are involved in a parish youth ministry during their teenage years. Also, due to the rapidly maturing ideals of our youth – known as age compression -- it is becoming more and more apparent that by the time children reach the 7th grade, they are ready for more than a classroom and textbook can offer them in terms of learning about their faith. The needs of the middle school youth necessitate a change in approach.

• Why are there different Confirmation requirements for students enrolled at St. Mary’s Catholic School?

  The students at St. Mary Catholic School have the advantage of attending religion classes every day, while also being exposed to the sacraments, a Catholic environment and other advantages that Catholic education affords them. St. Mary Catholic School is particularly committed to evangelization and education of our youth in the sacred tradition of Catholicism. There is no way for St. Mary Youth Ministry to duplicate the quantity of formation that St. Mary students receive in the classroom. Therefore, we see no reason to require St. Mary students to fulfill the same program requirements as those not attending St. Mary School. However, it is also not advantageous for the St. Mary’s students to fulfill all of their necessary requirements for formation apart from the greater community of the parish. Therefore, the requirements of St. Mary students are limited to those opportunities that are most beneficial for them to participate (mainly Rites and the retreat). Participation in Oneight Sunday sessions is not necessary for school children, and participation in the Edge Middle School Youth Ministry is optional but strongly encouraged.

• Why the different prices for Confirmation Preparation?

  The registration cost for Confirmation students is $145 a person. This covers the liturgical expenses for the Sacrament of Confirmation, program supplies and resources, participation in the Edge and the retreat.

  While some may be concerned about the increase in cost for the Confirmation program, one must consider that the registration fee in 8th grade is significantly decreased. For someone to participate in the Edge and is not being Confirmed, the fee is only $25.

  For students enrolled at St. Mary's School, your share of the Confirmation expenses are covered in your payment of tuition. A separate fee to help subsidize the Confirmation retreat may be requested by the School at a later date.

• Why is there an exam requirement?

  It is important to the parish community that the candidates seeking Confirmation are well prepared and have a basic knowledge and understanding of the basic dogmas and prayers of Catholicism. The exam serves the purpose of giving us an assessment to evaluate the candidates preparation. The candidates will be given an the exam and an exam study guide at the beginning of the year. They will be expected to pass the exam at the end of the year. If the exam is failed, it may be re-taken. This is not intended to be very difficult (actually it should be exceptionally easy). The exam is simply to make sure the candidates have the basics of Catholicism mastered.

• Is participation in the retreat required?

  Yes. Retreats offer a different component of formation. Catechesis teaches us knowledge about God. The purpose of a retreat is to "retreat from one’s life" so as to encounter God. One could call Jesus’ 40 days in the desert a kind of retreat. Retreats are time intensive (i.e. a 3 hour “day of reflection” does not count in my book). The retreat is required and the candidate must attend from the beginning of the retreat to the end of the retreat with no interruptions.

• What if my child cannot attend the retreat on December 1-2, 2012 due to another obligation?

  The best case scenario is that you reschedule the obligation or skip it. We give you the date well in advance so you can plan accordingly. However, if there is something that comes up that makes it impossible for the candidate to attend the retreat in November, an alternative retreat can be found. I appreciate advance warning so that we have plenty of time to find a suitable replacement. Retreats take a lot of time to plan and cannot simply be thrown together.

• What are the program requirements for home school families?

  That simply depends on what is being done for preparation at home. The Office of Youth Ministry applauds parents who take on the role of catechist for their children as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Parents are the principal and first educators of their children (CCC 1653). It will be important for the parents of a home schooled child to communicate with the Office of Youth Ministry to establish which requirements will be done at the parish and which will be done at home. A home schooled candidate must also be registered for Confirmation by September 14th and complete a necessary assessment to evaluate preparation.