Best route to take?

[mburn16]

Hello all,

Now that I’ve been here for a while, I suppose I can present one of my own situations for comment and advice. The sum of it is: I’ve never been confirmed.

I was raised in a Catholic household, baptized as an infant, spent first and second grade in Catholic school, and have accordingly experienced the sacraments of reconciliation and communion.

As I got older, however, my family wasn’t quite as church going as…well…would be ideal. So After third grade, I never did much but attend Mass and go to confession.

I’m not necessarily complaining - I actually liked having more time and sense to examine my faith and decide that,yes, I intend to remain Catholic and raise a Catholic family. But, now that I want to be confirmed, I’m confused about how to go about it - obviously past the traditional route of catechism for youths, but since I’ve already been baptized, etc…RCIA doesn’t quite seem to fit either.

advice?

 

[Big_Feet]

My suggestion would be to go to make an appointment with your local parish priest. During that appointment, discuss with him the process that you need to go through, and also receive the sacrament of Reconciliation after confession, so you can re-start receiving the Eucharist again.

Good Luck, and Welcome Home!!!

 

[1ke]

You are correct, RCIA is for non-Catholics and the unbaptized. However, many parishes-- because they lack sufficient manpower to run separate programs-- will include adult Catholics seeking Confirmation in the catechesis part of RCIA (the weekly meetings where Church teaching is explained).

Other parishes run a separate program for adult Catholics, it’s typically 4-6 meetings and is usually in the spring before/after Easter.

The Bishops in some dioceses reserve to themselves the confirmation of adult Catholics (that means the Bishop must be the one to confirm). In that case there is usually a special mass where all the adult Catholics from around the diocese come together for Confirmation or the adul Catholics are confirmed with the teens when the Bishop visits their parish or deanery.

In other dioceses, the Bishop delegates the authority to confirm Catholics to the pastor.

You should talk to your priest and he will guide you and let you know what the process is in your parish/diocese.

 

[TimothyH]

Hello all,

Now that I’ve been here for a while, I suppose I can present one of my own situations for comment and advice. The sum of it is: I’ve never been confirmed.

I was raised in a Catholic household, baptized as an infant, spent first and second grade in Catholic school, and have accordingly experienced the sacraments of reconciliation and communion.

As I got older, however, my family wasn’t quite as church going as…well…would be ideal. So After third grade, I never did much but attend Mass and go to confession.

I’m not necessarily complaining - I actually liked having more time and sense to examine my faith and decide that,yes, I intend to remain Catholic and raise a Catholic family. But, now that I want to be confirmed, I’m confused about how to go about it - obviously past the traditional route of catechism for youths, but since I’ve already been baptized, etc…RCIA doesn’t quite seem to fit either.

advice?

I was exactly the same. My parents fell away from the Church when I was about 8 or 10 and was just never confirmed.

Call the parish priest or deacon and speak to him. The adult confirmation class I attended was not full RICA but only once each week for 10 weeks. The deacon said that there were ways around that too.

Call the parish. Speak to the priest or deacon. Get confirmed.

-Tim-

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Check with your parish to see what they have available.

Possibilities include adult confirmation classes, RCIA, or a diocesan/regional adult confirmation class.

 

[DexUK]

More or less the same thing happened to me. I did the usual teenage thing of choosing not to get Confirmed and left it and left it until it no longer mattered to me. Then, in my mid to late 20s, I began to get more ‘bitten-by-the-bug’, became more committed to my faith and I resolved to rectify the situation. I spoke to my parish priest after Mass one day and made an appointment, and we had a number of 1-to-1 meetings and long fruitful discussions about faith, and in due course he agreed that I was ready to be Confirmed, and it duly took place on the first Sunday after Christmas, 1999. I’ve never looked back!

My advice to you is simply to ask your priest for advice on what to do next. I can pretty much guarantee he’ll be delighted to help you.

 

[SecretGarden]

RCIA is actually for the following:

1. Those who want to become Catholic
2. Those who have the sacraments but want to learn more about their faith and the church they were brought up in.
3. Those who were baptised but who were never confirmed and or never had their first communion and are wanting to join the church by receiving these sacraments
4. Those who are curious about the church and want to learn more.

I personally started as number 4 and it later became #1.

When I did my RCIA, I had people in all four categories. It was a fun and interesting group.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello all,I’m not necessarily complaining - I actually liked having more time and sense to examine my faith and decide that,yes, I intend to remain Catholic and raise a Catholic family. But, now that I want to be confirmed, I’m confused about how to go about it - obviously past the traditional route of catechism for youths, but since I’ve already been baptized, etc…RCIA doesn’t quite seem to fit either.

advice?

welcome home, that is, to a deeper “involvement” in your CAtholic family. Call your parish, most have adult confirmation classes on-going for persons in your situation, and no, it is not RCIA, although for practical purposes some of your classes may be with persons who are in RCIA.

as a note for anyone else who may have a similar question, if you are a student or work on a college campus, find out if there is a Catholic campus ministry who offers the classes at a time and place that may fit your schedule better.