There are logistics to deal with and they are important. The panic then fades and the proper urgency grows.Īll of this is a preparation for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I remember that God wants their freedom and their hearts. Then I hold onto these examples as signs of hope. I think about candidates from a decade ago, and how God has worked in their lives and hearts to bring hope and freedom. What we are preparing for is an outpouring of love and grace that can root candidates in a spirit of freedom and adoption, “to cry out ABBA, Father!” (Romans 8:15). Some who come to us will have been through profound suffering in their young lives. Each of them carries around hurts, burdens, and worries. Every candidate who comes into our program has a heart made for God.
We have good news that addresses the deepest longings of the human heart.Īnother refocusing thought is a call back to the gospel itself.
#Colin maclever free
Get it now Get a FREE sample lesson from Chosen: Your Journey Toward Confirmation When I get bogged down by other things, this reality is a major game changer. We need to make the work of our program about passing on a flame that is already burning brightly in each of us. (I’m going to guess that you’ve found yourself saying the same thing.) If that’s true, then all of the things we are preaching to candidates about gifts of the Holy Spirit and identity and mission apply to us! It’s a simple and obvious thought, but it reorients the way I look at things.Įverything I hope for the candidates in front of me is what the Holy Spirit desires for me and my whole team! And we have been confirmed. It’s preparation for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We make a big deal to the candidates that our Confirmation program isn’t preparation for graduation. When we on the Confirmation team were confirmed, we received the Holy Spirit. I figure that I’m not the only one, so I’ll share some encouraging thoughts that help me to focus and get that interior soundtrack to sound more like Rocky (think “Eye of the Tiger”) than The Shining. Then, every year, I breathe and remember some things that transform panic into a proper and productive sense of urgency. These are high stakes, so yeah … I panic a little. Many families are simply hanging by a thread.Ĭonfirmation preparation can be a make or break moment for the candidates either the moment of encounter that opens their hearts to the adventure of lifelong discipleship or a flat and uninspiring obligation that precedes another exodus from the Church. Some hardly ever attend Mass and frankly, neither do their parents. I think about the fact that many of the candidates who will come into the program this year are barely engaged in parish life. How many teens go through with Confirmation only to become ex-Catholics in the future? The statistics over the past few decades aren’t exactly encouraging. I see the registrations pouring in, think about ways to improve beyond what we did the previous year, and my heart pounds a bit. Sure, I take a deep breath and it’s all fine, but I’ll admit that I panic a little. Every year, about a week before the first parent meeting, I panic a little. A new year of Confirmation classes and a new group of candidates are upon us.
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