Order Restored

Parents, youth leaders largely adjusted to confirmation policy

By Ambria Hammel | Oct. 15, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

GOODYEAR — Nearly 40 third-graders spent one of their weekly religious education classes reviewing the Mass last month at St. John Vianney Parish.

They quizzed each other on the order of the liturgy, the names of prayers and what to say and do throughout Mass. That way, they’ll know how to be reverent come next spring when they fully join the Church by receiving confirmation and first Eucharist.

When Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted moved the confirmation age from high school to third grade in 2005, parents throughout the diocese were concerned children would not be reverent and wouldn’t understand the sacrament.

The bishop detailed his reasoning for restoring the order of the sacraments of initiation in his pastoral letter, “Gift from on High.”

More than four years later, many parents have come to understand and accept the policy, and confirmed children have embraced their call to share their gifts. Parish catechetical leaders are working to inspire parents as primary educators of the faith and youth ministries are stepping up their outreach.

“It’s exciting to be able to help awaken their faith in the sacrament, especially the parents. When the parents see it, it becomes important to the children,” said Bill Haley, director of religious education at St. Daniel the Prophet Parish in Scottsdale.

He said parents have adjusted to the restored order “remarkably well” with only a handful of parents still saying they don’t understand the change. After a moment of catechesis, Haley said, parents understand the Church’s tradition of confirmation preceding first Communion.

“It’s brought out the emphasis that the Eucharist is truly the sacramental source and summit of our faith,” Haley said of the policy.

But not all parents appreciate that. Some try to delay confirmation until their kids are teenagers.

An August update to the confirmation and first Communion policy addresses the issue, clarifying the “age of discretion,” among other things. For parents, that age is often unclear and varied. To the Church, it’s by the end of age 7.

“It’s such a huge paradigm shift for the parents,” Eric Westby, director of catechesis for the diocese, said of the policy.

For many parents, confirmation was treated as a coming of age or a graduation from faith formation. He projected it’ll still be several more years for parents to get acclimated to the restored order. The children, by and large, have already adjusted.

“There’s an excitement for kids to have that grace earlier,” Westby said. Confirmed children, he said, are taking their call to witness the faith seriously.

That has changed how they relate to their friends, their family and the less fortunate.

Parish leaders have seen that firsthand. Many confirmed children continue to attend faith formation classes and get involved in ministries.

“She loves to learn all she can about Jesus,” Lisa Lewis said of her daughter who is in the sixth-grade morality class, one of nine post-confirmation classes at St. John Vianney. Her daughter even takes the Bible with her to public school for reading time.

Mary Mirrione, coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert, has 12 post-confirmation students helping younger children learn their faith every Friday night.

At least a handful of them have asked to be extraordinary ministers of the Holy Eucharist.

“There’s a great desire in them to serve and remain. It shocked us the first time,” Mirrione said.

She nearly fell over when a student returned to her pew in tears after being confirmed and said, “He anoints my head with oil. My cup overflows.”

Students learning through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd begin studying the gifts of the Holy Spirit at a young age — sometimes when they’re 3 years old. Children’s ability and enthusiasm for understanding their faith has left some parents playing catch up.

Parent, teen impact

Parents at St. John Vianney now attend monthly formation meetings while their children are in class.

“This was in response to the parents who were asking, ‘Wow. How do I keep up with them?’” said David Portugal, the parish’s director of religious education.

While parents might remember their own confirmation Mass, they’re less likely to remember the practical ways to live their faith day to day. Now volunteers with various parish ministries take turns addressing the parents on anything from prayer to music and media to apologetics and the sacrament of marriage.

“It’s really pumped some energy into our parish ministries,” Portugal said, noting that some parents have joined other ministries as a result.

Although at least one family left the parish when confirmation moved down to third grade, the change was, by and large, a positive move at St. Clare of Assisi in Surprise. It strengthened parish life and increased Mass attendance.

Parents are required to attend one religious education night a month where the families pray together through praise and worship and then hear a challenging talk. More than 500 people came last month.

“The most important thing is educating the parents and living that faith in the home. That will make all the difference,” said Margaret Planeta, director of children’s formation.

Moving the sacrament of confirmation to third grade has both helped and hurt youth ministry, according to Bill Marcotte, director of youth and young adult evangelization for the diocese. Some parishes report a decrease in enrollment while others notice a jump. Other parishes remain consistent.

“Instead of understanding the sacrament of confirmation as a beginning, or the strengthening for a more committed Christian lifestyle, many teens walked away with a sense of relief that it is all over,”  Marcotte  said of the confirmation process before the restoration.

Confirmation was seen as a graduation and “many youth evangelization programs were intimately linked with confirmation preparation,” he added. Sometimes they were one and the same.

Not anymore. Youth ministers have learned how to effectively evangelize teens and motivate them to grow in the fullness of faith after confirmation.

Are parents seeing themselves as the primary faith educators? Marcotte isn’t sure. But overall, he said the restored order has been a positive change.

“We’re in a much better place doing this stepping down,” Marcotte said. “Our young people need the graces earlier in their life.”