March 9, 2022 Confirmation 2

This week we finished our discussion of the Sacrament of Confirmation.

First, we reviewed last week’s work which focused on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. I guess I didn’t do a very good job teaching Pentecost, because, in spite of much discussion and a role-playing exercise, not a single student could describe what happened. Sigh. Fortunately, they did remember that the Holy Spirit is simply God. We transitioned into a discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

We discussed the reaffirming of baptismal promises in Confirmation. We had the students pair up with their table-mate, and think of and write down some of the core beliefs of Catholics. We gave them some hints, like “Think of the Apostle’s Creed.” It went OK.

We discussed, again, the role of Confirmation as a major milestone on their growth as Catholics. Most of them weren’t asked if they wanted to be baptized, but when they approach young adulthood, they do get the chance to decide and confirm their faith. We compared it to other young adult ceremonies in other religions, like evangelical protestants “born again” or the Jewish Bar Mitzvah

We returned to the text and asked them to read a page silently and look for the answers to a few questions.

Why does the Confirmation sponsor place his or her hand on the shoulder of the candidate?

How does the bishop anoint the candidate?

Why does the newly confirmed offer peace to the bishop?

We talked about taking a Confirmation name and the role of a sponsor. We finished up with a short discussion of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The next two classes will be devoted to the Ten Commandments. This is one of my favorite lessons of the year, because it usually prompts a ton of questions and discussion. I hope these lessons will do he same. Parents, as always, you are welcome to sit in.

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Feb. 23, 2022 Pentecost & Confirmation

Last night we covered the Pentecost and the Sacrament of Confirmation. We didn’t complete the lesson, so we will finish in two weeks.

We started by asking just who or what is the Holy Spirit? Fairly quickly we had responses that the Holy Spirit is God. We think of the Father as the creator, and the Son, Jesus, as the savior. But when we think of God being with us every day, we think of the Holy Spirit.

We read through the text (Ch 8) which included a description of Pentecost from Acts. I emphasized the impact of what had happened, as the Holy Spirit appeared to the apostles as wind and fire and emboldened a group of meek and terrified men into brave preachers of the Gospel. We then had the class (only 4 students) dramatize (role play) the story of Pentecost.

We transitioned into the Sacrament of Confirmation in which we receive the Holy Spirit by showing a video. You can see it here.

Back to the text, we had volunteers read the second section which described the importance of the laying on of hands and anointing.

We pointed out that most religions have some kind of ritual or mechanism for children who are about 13 years old. Most people are baptized as babies and really don’t have any choice in the matter. However, with Confirmation, they have the opportunity to “confirm” their faith and their desire to continue to grow as Catholics.

We briefly discussed the role of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I compared the Holy Spirit’s influence to a sports coach. It is part of a coach’s job to get his/her team “psyched up” to play their best. Likewise, the Holy Spirit helps us be the best Catholics and people we can be.

In two weeks, we will finish this chapter and then continue to the next which is more about the actual Confirmation ceremony.

Next week, March 2, is Ash Wednesday. This, of course, coincides with our family night. Mass and distribution of ashes will be held at 6:30 pm in the church. Bring the whole family.

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Class #16 Feb 12, 2020 Confirmation

Last week, we tackled the Sacrament of Confirmation. We started by talking about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost. We emphasized that the Holy Spirit is God and that aspect or person of God that stays with us daily. We told the story of Pentecost and then showed a short video to reinforce the concept.

We transitioned into a discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. We discussed the idea of confirming their basic beliefs as Catholic. We broke them into pairs and asked them to list some of their core Catholic beliefs. We gave them some hints, like “Think of the Apostle’s Creed.” It went OK.

We discussed the role of Confirmation as a major milestone on their growth as Catholics. Most of them weren’t asked if they wanted to be baptized, but when they approach young adulthood, they do get the chance to decide and confirm their faith. We compared it to other young adult ceremonies in other religions, like evangelical protestants’ “born again” or the Jewish Bar Mitzvah.

We returned to the text and asked them to read a page silently and look for the answers to a few questions.

Why does the Confirmation sponsor place his or her hand on the shoulder of the candidate?

How does the bishop anoint the candidate?

Why does the newly confirmed offer peace to the bishop?

We spent some time talking about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and completed a match-game exercise.

We finished up with a game of Hangman. Unfortunately, despite going through nearly the entire alphabet, they weren’t able to solve “Pentecost.” Too bad.

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Classes 5 & 6 Oct. 16 & 23, 2019

What happened to last week’s class? I would have sworn I had posted a report.

In any case, we began our coverage of the sacraments with a lesson that summarized he concept and lightly touched on each one. We started by handing out a work sheet with two columns, labeled…

Sacraments I have received

Sacraments I expect to receive at some time

We asked them to fill in the boxes based on their own experience. We used this as a springboard to explain each sacrament. This began a wide ranging discussion with many, many questions that dealt with the sacraments and other religious and church-related issues. It was a fun exchange.

Last night we finished up our overview of the seven sacraments. We have noticed we spend a lot of time simply on vocabulary. On every page of the text, there are important concepts described in words most, if not all of the class simply don’t understand. Last night, I was thinking of words like reconciliation, reconcile, sanctifying and initiation.

We had the class read page 36 of the text to themselves, while looking for the answers to three questions. We then discussed them.

What are some of the signs of God’s love in the world? (Many good answers)

What is the greatest gift of God’s love? (Jesus)

What is sanctifying grace?

This led to a good discussion of grace. Most had just a scant understanding, and the definition in the book didn’t help much. We explained grace as simply being God’s love for them. To bring it to life, we asked if there were times that they felt their parents love more than others. Many good answers, like hugs, comforting moments, and so on. We used this concept to explain that the Sacraments are God’s way of transmitting his love to us, just like a parent transmits his or her love through a hug or a kiss.

We showed the class that the sacraments are divided into three categories.

Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) We discussed how Baptism begins us on our journey; Confirmation firms our resolve; and Eucharist recharges our spiritual batteries whenever we partake in the Sacrament.)

Sacraments of Healing (Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick) We discussed how God’s love, transmitted through the sacraments have a spiritually healing effect.)

Sacraments of Service of Communion (Holy Orders, Matrimony) We discussed how each sacrament involves service. At one point in the discussion of Holy Orders, we talked about bishops, priests and deacons. In describing what deacons could do, one student asked if they could perform exorcisms. Where did that come from? The question was an honest one, but I was not prepared to answer it. I don’t know anything about exorcisms except what I see in movies. I kicked that can down the road until either Father Kavanaugh or Monsignor Costigan pay us a visit.

We finished up with the end of the chapter exercise, a combination of T-F questions and matching columns. We used the ensuing discussion as our “what did you learn tonight?” exercise and rewarded the students with a cookie.

Next week, Mrs. Hanzel will be introducing the class to the Rosary.

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Classes 13, 14 & 15 Jan 31, Feb 7 & 21, 2018

I have been very derelict in my responsibility to keep this blog updated. Sorry about that. Here is a catch-up.

Jan 31 — We completed our coverage of the Sacrament of Confirmation. We spent a fair amount of time discussing that this sacrament confirms what was done for them by their godparents at Baptism. Since our entire class was baptized as infants, we pointed out they had no say in whether they were to become Catholics or not. However, they will be old enough to make a choice for themselves to become a full time Catholic. We also  pointed out that most religions have a similar process when a child reaches their early teens.

Feb 7 — We had a special treat. One of Mrs. Scanlon’s second graders and his  younger sister had not been baptized as infants. Father Kavenaugh baptized the pair on Feb 7. Our class sat in and observed. Father did a great job explaining the steps and their meaning.

Feb 14 — Ash Wednesday. No class.

Feb 21 — I was out of town on family business. (My wife’s and my first grandchild was born in South Carolina last week. )  Mrs. Rudolphi took over the class and presented a lesson on prayer.

Feb 28 — This week’s class will be the first of two on the Ten Commandments.  These have been some of our favorite classes of the year. The subject brings out many, many questions and lots of great discussion. If parents ever thought they would like to sit in on a class, this would be the one to do so.

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Class #3 October 18, 2017

We had a really good class last night. Mrs. Rudolphi and I are liking these kids more and more every week. They are bright, attentive, cooperative and engaged.

As the students arrived, we had them complete a crossword puzzle with answers from last week’s lesson. We had one somewhat funny coincidence. The answer for one of the words was to be “blessedtrinity.” One student answered “theholytrinity.” Not only is it the same thing, but the letter-count is the same, and the third letter is a “cross letter” and it is an “e” in each answer. We all got a chuckle out of that.

We continue to work on reinforcing their knowledge of the basic prayers. They had the Hail Mary down pat, so we moved on to the Lord’s Prayer.

The rest of the evening was spent on Chapter 3, which is a broad-brush overview of the Sacraments. We started by handing out a work sheet with two columns, labeled…

Sacraments I have received

Sacraments I expect to receive at some time

We asked them to fill in the boxes based on their own experience. We used this as a springboard to explain each Sacrament. Most were not familiar with Holy Orders or Anointing of the Sick. It led to a good Q & A discussion. Many did not understand that it IS possible for someone to receive all seven Sacraments. And much to their surprise, there are actually a few married Catholic priests with families.

We divided the class into pairs and threes and asked them to read P 36 together and to answer three questions which they would find the answers in the text.

What are some of the signs of God’s love in the world? (Many good answers)

What is the greatest gift of God’s love? (Jesus)

What is sanctifying grace?

This led to a good discussion of grace. Most had just a scant understanding, and the definition in the book didn’t help much. We explained grace as simply being God’s love for them. To bring it to life, we asked if there were times that they felt their parents love more than others. Many good answers, like hugs, comforting moments, and so on. We used this concept to explain that the Sacraments are God’s way of transmitting his love to us, just like a parent transmits his or her love through a hug or a kiss.

We showed the class that the Sacraments are divided into three categories.

Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist)

Sacraments of Healing (Reconciliation, Annointing of the Sick)

Sacraments of Service of Communion (Holy Orders, Matrimony)

It was a good discussion and they seemed to grasp the concepts.

We had volunteer read aloud from text and covered the concepts of Christian initiation (process of becoming a member of the Church) and a Common Vocation (a call for all Christians to live good and holy lives and to be witnesses of the faith.)

That got us only about half way through the chapter. Next week we will finish off.

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Class #12 January 25, 2017

Our students (five) were lively and engaged last night, even on an evening when their teacher was not at the top of his game.

We continued our march through the faith assessment as groundwork  for serious Confirmation prep starting next year in seventh grade. If you would like to see the information we are using as our guide this year, you can find it on the parish Website here.

Our subject last night was the Sacraments. I would have thought that it would be a fairly easy topic, seeing as we spent all of last year (5^th grade) covering them. We distributed a quiz that asked the students to define grace, and then to list the seven Sacraments by category (Initiation, Healing and Service of Communion) and provide a short definition. We then discussed the results, which were mixed. We had a fairly wide ranging discussion with questions like…

“Can a person receive all seven sacraments?” (Yes)

“Can a person receive Annointing of the Sick more than once?” (Yes)

And so on.

We then played a short (about three minutes) video about grace and the various types of grace. After we watched it once, we told the class, that we would play it again, and this time, they should really try to pull at least a couple of concepts or ideas out of it. After our second viewing, we discussed the ideas the students pulled from the piece. It went well. Since the idea of playing the video twice came to me on a whim, I’m glad it worked out.

The overall message of the class was that the Sacraments are a means God uses to convey grace. As our final exercise, we divided the class into a group of two (boys) and three (girls) (self-selected, by the way) and asked them to draw a picture of one of the white boards that depicts he conveyance of grace through one of the Sacraments. They could pick whichever Sacrament they want. Both groups did well, and the girls even did a short skit to complement theirs.

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Class #11, January 18, 2017

I had no entry last week, because I was out of town for work. Mrs. Van Brimmer took over the class and taught the Rosary. I understand it went very well.

We had our usual group of six students last night, as we continue to work our way through the “Faith Assessment” questions and answers. These are basic elements of the Catholic faith that our students should be familiar with before Confirmation. You can see the entire program here.

http://saintpetertheapostle.com/church/faith-formation/know-faith/

Last night, we were on the “Miscellaneous Questions” section. We had the students take the quiz to start, to see what they already know, and to make them think about the questions. Then we discussed them.

1. What does catholic mean?
2. Transubstantiation is:
3. Can a non-catholic receive communion at a Catholic mass? Why or why not?
4. What is the distinction between the Virgin Birth of Jesus by Mary and the Immaculate Conception?
5. What is fasting and abstinence? In which liturgical season are these generally practiced?
6. Where do you find the letters INRI? What do they stand for?
7. Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord and Wisdom are the seven __________?

If you don’t know the answers, feel free to click the link above and learn.

Given the importance of transubstantiation to our Catholic faith, we supported that concept by watching a video by Bishop Robert Barron on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJjW3LXuHzo

We finished up with a little throwback in Church history. In the past, we had discussed that prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Mass was said in Latin. Although I had explained that everyone had a translation available, the class never seemed to grasp the idea. A few weeks ago, when helping my siblings clean out some boxes at my father’s home in Pittsburgh, I came across my original St Joseph’s Sunday Missal, with all the Sunday masses in two columns, English on the left and Latin on the right. I passed it around the class. The students were very interested.

This continues to be a small, but great group of students.  They are engaged and behaved. We can talk about things, have open discussions and even joke around without the entire lesson running off the rails. They are fun and interesting to work with. Mrs. Rudolphi and I look forward to each week.

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Class #7, November 16, 2016

We had an interesting class last Wednesday. Our faith assessment exercise dealt with some basic Catholic teachings and practices.

The source of divine revelation? Scripture and tradition.

The Precepts of the Church. (ie: obligations as Catholics)

— Attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days.

–Confession at least once a year

–Receive the Eucharist during Easter Season.

–Observe days of fast and abstinence

–Help provide for the needs of the Church (time, treasure and talent)

The follow up discussion was interesting. Many of these concepts were foreign to the students, so we had some “I didn’t know that!” responses.

The faith assessment also included a section on the Theological and Cardinal Virtues. We explained the differences and asked the students to place each virtue in the correct category.

Theological – Faith, Hope and Charity (or Love)

Cardinal – Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude

We had to define most of them and explained that the Theological Virtues are gifts from God and concern our relationship to God. The Cardinal Virtues were actually first conceived by Plato and concern our relationships to fellow humans.

After a fair amount of discussion, we walked across the hall to view a video by a Father Barron on the Theological Virtues. The video is targeted for adults, but, as I told the students, they should be able to follow most of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuyKsaj6GbM&t=117s

When we returned to our classroom, we were just about out of time. We left them with a homework assignment. We would appreciate it if our parents would follow up on this. Our next class will deal with the Cardinal Virtues in more depth. Their assignment is to do a little internet research on the Cardinal Virtues, so they will have some background before they come to class. Here is a site with some information I have used.

http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/tp/Cardinal_Virtues.htm

Important scheduling information — We will have no class this week, since it would be the night before Thanksgiving. Also, we will not have class next week, November 30, as that is the evening of our parish’s Confirmation Mass. We will be back December 7.

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Class #4 October 26, 2016

We had another good class Wednesday evening. Continuing our three-part format, we started with the weekly Faith Assessment, which was the Apostles’ Creed. We had the students fill out a fill-in-the-blank quiz and just about everyone did very well. We then discussed the creed, its meaning and history, comparing it to the Nicene Creed we recite at Mass.

We walked across the hall to the library where we watched a Chris Stephanik video about more saints.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwp_1TYBiAI

Returning the class, we talked a little more about picking a saint’s name for Confirmation. Some students have already picked a name, at least for now, and we talked about some of their choices.

We phased into short lesson on Confirmation and the Holy Spirit. We broke the class into groups of two or three students and asked them to think of things that represent the Holy Spirit. We sent them to the white board to draw their ideas. Some interesting ideas, and interesting representations. (dove, flame, wind, cross)

Next week our Faith Assessment is on the Beatitudes. At this point, we are thinking about making that the focus of the entire class. As I mentioned in my email earlier this week, it would be great if the students were familiar with the Beatitudes before coming to class. They can be found Matthew 5:3-10.

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