Dear Parents/Guardians,
I hope you are doing well!
I want to thank all of our students (and you for your support) in preparing them for the selection of their patron saint names for Confirmation and the ability to speak about their saints. So many of our students were well prepared and able to discuss their selections very fluently. I was very happy to meet with them this past week.
I reminded the students that the remaining steps in this academic year are:
- Meeting on Sunday, April 21, 2024 from 3:30pm to 5:00pm (at Saint Benedicts)
- Attend their 1st year Confirmation Retreat - Saturday, April 27, 2024 from 8am to 2:30pm.
- Meeting with their Sponsor - Sunday, May 19, 2024 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm
- Faith in Action Service Projects (One is scheduled in May and one in June)
I have put additional about these next steps in the sections below. I have also added information about make-up opportunities for these programs. If you have any questions for me about the meetings or Confirmation in general, please reach out to me!
Blessings,
David Heimann
Time to Select a Confirmation Sponsor
Sunday, May 19, 2024 Meeting with sponsors
Confirmation Sponsors should have already been asked to fill this role and given the form (download it below) so that the sponsor can get the sponsor form signed by their parish. To serve as a Confirmation Sponsor, the potential sponsor must be a practicing Catholic registered in a parish. The parish pastor (or his staff) then signs the Sponsor permission form that is attached below. This form be completed by May 1, 2024 so I can have enough time to process the forms before the Sponsor begins to work with the candidate.
There are several criteria which make someone eligible to be a sponsor for Confirmation.
• Should have a relationship with the candidate and can support them.
• Must be a baptized Catholic who has received Eucharist and has been Confirmed;
• Must he/she is a practicing Catholic who participates in the Eucharistic celebration on Sundays
• Cannot have any canonical penalties on them (rare)
• Must be at least 16 years of age;
• Cannot be the candidate's mother or father;
I am also requesting that the Confirmation Sponsors attend a meeting with us on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 6:00pm in the auditorium.
Confirmation Retreat
Saturday, April 27, 2024
8:00am to 2:30pm
Reviewing one of the requirements for Confirmation Candidates as listed in the parent guidebook. The Archdiocese require that young candidates make a retreat in both their first year of preparation and their second year of preparation.
Since the beginning of our program, we had announced that we would hold this retreat on Saturday, April 27, 2024 but we didn't have a set time or plans.
Plans are developing very well for the retreat and we can now announce that the retreat will be a pilgrimage to the Archdiocese of Chicago's ministry campus on the south side known as the Meyer Center and subsequently to Mary Queen of Africa parish.
We will travel to these sites by bus from Saint Andrew Parish leaving at 8:00am and returning to Saint Andrew by 2:30pm. We will be making stops to visit the places near to the life of Fr. Augustus Tolton who is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church. The pilgrimage will include lunch for all the students. I will need adult volunteers to accompany us as chaperones for this experience. Please let me know if you are interested.
What to do if your child can't make the retreat?
A first year retreat and a second year retreat are requirements of the Archdiocese of Chicago for receipt of Confirmation. Missing this requirement then makes the parents and the participant responsible for finding an alternative for their child to make up for the experience. This could be another retreat at another parish or another experience discovered or designed by the parents and approved by the Confirmation director.
There are three opportunities presently available, but parents would need to contact the parish coordinators of these parishes and make arrangements on their own.
- April 13, 2024 - St John XXIII Parish, 10am to 4pm - contact Karoline Ferrell kferrell@archchicago.org
- April _______ - Saint Fabian Parish - contact Paula Kroll paulak@saint-fabian.org
- November 2, 2024 - Holy Fire by the Archdiocese of Chicago, 9am to 3pm (note... this can only be used as a make-up for either the first year or second year retreats, not both)
Attendance at a Confirmation Mass
Thank you to all the candidates who attended the Confirmation Mass at Saint Andrew on January 26. The list of alternate dates to fulfill the requirement of observing a Confirmation Mass is below
Proof of attendance will come by way of completing the reflection form which you can download below. This reflection form is completed after they observe both a Confirmation Mass and a Baptism.
Faith in Action Projects
As discussed in the Confirmation Guidebook, participants in Confirmation preparation must complete their Faith in Action Projects. This consists of doing one project in each of three different categories. In total, they will do three projects.
The categories are:
1) Service to and care for the Environment
2) Service to those in need
and
3) Service to the Church.
In both category 1 and category 2, Saint Andrew will organize two service projects, one in the Spring and one in the Fall.
For category 3 - service to the church, this is done independently and has already been completed by many in our program. This could be serving at the altar during Mass, doing the readings or hospitality at Mass during a Family Mass. It may also be assisting in one of many parish program such as the upcoming Children's Garage Sale or other projects.
For categories 1 & 2, the service projects offered in the spring are:
1) Service and care for the Environment:
Saturday, May 11 from 9:30am to 11:30am - Cleaning the Forest Preserve at Labagh Woods, West Foster Avenue & Cicero.
2) Service to those in need:
Saturday, June 1, 2:30pm to 4:00pm, Feed My Starving Children, Schaumberg
If your child cannot make one of these opportunities, don't panic! There will be organized group projects in the Fall as well. They're only required to do one in each category.
Sign up forms for participation in either of these two projects will be made available in April.
To keep us all in the know about the path for Confirmation Preparation for the upcoming academic year, the schedule of sessions dedicated only to Confirmation is listed below.
April 21 3:30pm - 4:45pm Confirmation # 8 (Joint Class)
Saturday, April 27 9:00am to 2:30pm - Bus trip that leaves from Saint Andrew School and goes to Archdiocesan Pastoral Center.
May 11 Service Project - Cook County Forest Preserve
May 19 6:00pm to 7:30pm Confirmation Sponsor Meeting (Joint Class)
June 1 Service Project FMSC