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Confirmation FAQs

Basics: 2-Year Program; Mandatory Parent Meeting; Classes Twice-a-Month on Sunday; Life Nights about once a month, also on Sunday evening; 20 Service Hours in Parish; Yearly Retreat; Saint Report (Conf I) & Bishop's Letter (Conf II)

"Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the 'sacraments of Christian initiation,' whose unity must be safeguarded. ...the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For 'by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.'"(CCC, 1285) Confirmation is a Sacrament in which the Holy Ghost is given to those already baptized in order to makes sure, perfect, complete the work already begun.

At Santa Clara, Confirmation is a 2-year program that prepares our 9th graders and above for the Sacrament of Confirmation, through catechetical study, Bible study, and small group discussion. Classes meet twice a month on Sunday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00 PM, after the Youth Mass at 5 PM, a Life Night will take place about once a month, and online registration begins the weekend of August 13-14. If the Info and FAQ's below do you address your question or concern, please contact Greg Walgenbach, Director of Youth Ministry and Confirmation, or Marcie Pomeroy, Office Assistant for Youth Ministry; both may be reached at the parish office: (714) 970-7885. Our first meeting--which a parent needs to attend with their teen--is September 18th, 6:30-8:00PM, in the Parish Hall at Santa Clara.

INFO & FAQs:

MANDATORY Parent Meeting: Sunday, September, 18, 2011, 6:30-8:00 PM

Program begins:  Fall 2011

Classes: Confirmation Classes meet twice a month on Sunday Nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM after the 5 PM Youth Mass. Alternate Sunday nights will be either Life Nights (once a month from 6:30 - 8:30 PM) and XLT (eXaLT, a time of worship, praise, and Adoration) or other special activities.

Attendance Requirements:  Attendance at Confirmation Classes and Life Nights is mandatory. Within the Diocese of Orange, it is mandatory for the confirmandi (any student of Confirmation) to attend every class in order to know the curriculum. The subjects needed to be covered in our curriculum are given to us by the diocese and we need to cover it within the two year program, between classes and Life Nights. If a class or Life Night is missed, students are responsible for contacting Greg Walgenbach, the YM Director, in order to receive a make-up assignment. Making it to the classes and Life Nights will be the easier option--and all attendance requirements must be met in order to move on to Confirmation II and to Confirmation itself.

Mass: Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, which is the "Source and Summit of the life and mission of the Church." For our Confirmandi to truly know Christ, they need to attend Sunday Mass at least weekly. Of course, all Catholics must attend weekly Mass, unless sick or receiving a dispensation from a priest, so this is to say that Confirmandi are stepping into that adult commitment to which we are all called.

In addition to this, because of the strong community aspect of Confirmation we strongly suggest the Confirmandi attend at least one of our Santa Clara De Asis’ 5pm Sunday Youth Masses a month. Since Confirmation classes will be on Sunday evenings, this will help foster the connection between the Eucharist and what we are learning, as well has grow the sense of our journey as a community.

Life Nights: All Students are required to participate in the Sunday Night “Life Nights” from 6:30-8:30pm. As I mentioned above, the community aspect of Confirmation is extremely important. For any reason your child can not make the “Life Night” they can make it up by going to another Sunday night event, such as a “XLT” (eXaLT is an evening of praise, worship and adoration). There will be a sign-in list every Sunday for us to keep track of attendance.

Deep:  This is a program offered the same night as Confirmation for those who have already been through Confirmation 1 & 2. There is Youth Minitry offered every Sunday Night (except for those announced on the calendar) and we want everyone to be able to come and have the opportunity to continue to grow. Christian growth does not stop with Confirmation--that's when things really get going! We will be doing Bible Studies and other topical studies in this program which meets at the same time as Confirmation. So if you (or your youth) have already been through Confirmation, this is a great place to continue to grow.

Why do we not have weekly Classes?  Many other programs fully separate their Confirmation classes from the rest of the youth ministry and have them go weekly to class. We at Santa Clara feel it is very important that the Confirmandi get the most comprehensive and well-rounded education and experience of what it means to be Catholic, so our young people can make the best choice for themselves when it comes time for the Rite of the Sacrament. So instead of weekly classes we have them go twice a month to class and the other Sundays to join Community spirit-filled youth minsitry events.

What if I have questions about my teen?  As we progress throughout the year, if you need to know your teen’s status in relation to the requirements, please feel free to contact the youth office and we will get that information to you as soon as possible.

Why do we have to meet these Requirements?: We at Santa Clara recognize that Football is a huge commitment and very important in an adolescent’s life. Cheerleading, Concert Choir, Dance, Debate, Soccer: these are all huge commitments. All of these or any extra curricular activity in our youth’s life is very important and we do not want to and we will do our best to try not compete with them. I know it is extremely difficult to fit everything in, but their faith has to be their FIRST priority if they are saying yes to Christ and Confirmation in the Catholic Church. For this reason, we have put an emphasis on Sundays, the Lord's Day. If we focus on giving this time on Sunday evenings to God, we can model for our teens how to give God his due and be strengthened and directed in the rest of our doings!

Christian Service Hours: To say yes to the Catholic faith, one is saying yes to living the Gospel. What does this mean for us? It means we live a life that is selfless. To be a true disciple of Christ we need to take up our cross and follow Him. We need to wash each other’s feet. It is in clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting the prisoner, and feeding the hungry that we get to know who Christ is and what it means to be a true Christian. It is so important that before a young lady or young man receives the Sacrament of Confirmation they have encountered Christ through the needy of the world and through participation in Parish work. This is why we ask our Confirmandi to do at the very least twenty hours per year (total of 40 hours) of community service hours prior to receiving the Sacrament. It is hard to say yes to be a disciple if we personally haven’t experienced the person of Christ. Service hours give us the opportunity to find out first hand who Christ is. As we will specify at the Parent night, we ask that these be service hours in Parish ministry at Santa Clara (or at another Parish, if student is registered there). These hours will be tracked by the adult in charge of your child’s class and there is a SCDA Confirmation Christian Service form. Please feel free to ask any questions. In conjunction with the St. Vincent De Paul Ministries, we will have opportunities throughout the year to meet Christ in the poor.

Sponsors and Patron Saints: How can we expect our young people to get through all of this alone? We can’t.  Every Confirmandi needs to have a couple of companions of their choice on their journey. We call these people their sponsor and their patron saint. A sponsor is a person that acts as their Catholic mentor or guide. All through life we have mentors helping us out.  We have coaches, trainers, choreographers, choirmasters, teachers, scout masters, pack leaders, and band leaders.  It is even more important with our faith. We need someone to be one on one with our youth.   We need someone to be Christ to them, a coach in the Catholic Faith. This person should be in at least weekly connection and conversation with the Confirmandi to continually discuss the Catholic faith. It would be ideal if this person was their godparent, but we know that for many reasons this cannot always be. The sponsor needs to be confirmed in the Catholic faith, at least 16 years of age, attending at least weekly Mass, in good standing with the Church, be able to receive the Sacraments and can not be a parent or a step-parent.  The main reason the diocese came up with the parent rule is so the young person would reach out to the community for even further assistance to help the parents that are already guiding their children. This person should be very comfortable in their faith and genuinely concerned for the faith development of the Confirmandi. 

The sponsor is not the only person the Confirmandi chooses to walk with them throughout the two years and throughout their lives--they also choose a patron saint. In the Catholic Church we believe that God is a God of the living not of the dead, which means that the saints are alive and involved in our lives. We call on them for help and they do respond. They are in eternal unity with Jesus and are in constant communication with Him. We ask our friends to pray for us and we ask our saints to pray for us as well. For us it is the same action. We are asking our heavenly friends to pray for us and walk with us, and they do. Even though Jesus was fully human and fully divine, it can be hard for us at times to fully relate to Him because, after all, He is God and without sin. We look for a patron saint to find someone who walked our walk. One we can look up to and relate with at the same time. The Confirmandi should find someone they have something in common with and see how they made it to holiness and let them be their example. Then we challenge the Confirmandi to include their patron saint in their daily prayers, asking for assistance and perseverance in their faith journey. We ask them to develop a relationship with their saint. We will help the students find an appropriate saint to accompany them on their journey. Once a saint is chosen, they will do a report on their particular saint. This is for all Confirmation I students and Confirmation II students who for some reason has not yet turned it in.

Retreat:  Our final requirement of the Confirmandi, your sons and daughters, is that they go on one retreat per year with their confirmandi community to better understand God, their faith and to have a stronger desire to be at one with Jesus Christ. This is not only part of our program, but a Confirmation retreat is also a requirement of the diocese. If for any reason the Confirmandi cannot make the retreat it is crucial that she or he speaks with me as soon as they can to make other arrangements if at all possible. If they do not speak to me and do not fulfill this requirement, they risk waiting until next year before they can receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. See Calendar for dates.

What if my child is not ready for Confirmation?  If the Confirmandi are having questions or concerns, it would not be good for them to contact Steve right before the Rite of Confirmation. It will be too late; it would mean another year of formation in our program before they are ready.  Please have them speak to Steve or their adult leader anytime they have a question or concern.

 Interview:  All Confirmation II Students need to go through a 15 minute Interview with one of my Confirmation Team Adults the month before they receive the Sacrament.

Letter to the Bishop and Youth Minister:Please click here for instructions
How long should the Letters be?  1 Page

How long should the Saint Report be? 1 Page

When is Greg available for questions?  Please contact Greg via email at greg@scdayl.org or you can reach him by phone at 714-970-7885 x225. My office hours are generally Tuesday - Thursday, 9:00 - 2:00 PM. If you can not reach me right away and you have a Youth Ministry of Confirmation clerical question you can reach Marcie at 714-970-7885 ext. 229 or email her at Marcie@scdayl.org

When is Marcie in the office?: Monday-Friday: 8am - 11am