Can I be (in a sense) re-confirmed?

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celisabethp17

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Ever since i was born, i was raised catholic and went to catholic mass almost every sunday- my parents were good catholics. However, I received my first communion and my confirmation as well in the 2nd grade. (9 or 10 years old). When I was about 11 or 12, my parents went through a divorce and an annulment of their marriage. During this time, we all stopped going to church, with the exception of maybe my dad who went but never encouraged me and my brother to go. at the age of 12 almost 13, my mother brother and I moved out of state to be near her family, and ever since (im 17 now) we have not been involved in the church. I go sometimes when i go back to my dads house, but it is awkward because i know that i need to go to confession and that im sinning here. Also, my dad got recently married again, to a non catholic woman, though she is christian. They had a fully catholic wedding in a beautiful basilica. They made me be the bridesmaid, and both i and the bride wore strapless dresses, which i didnt feel physically uncomfortable in but i didnt feel was appropriate for church, let alone a mass in this especially beautiful church. I cried through much of the ceremony and the priest gave me a hug afterward, saying that it was hard but that it would be ok. It was awkward because i kindof felt that the church was letting me down by letting my dad of all people get remarried in such a holy ceremony after committing adultery with my mother and lying a lot. I shouldnt be this vain, but it was so hard for me to go through this. Recently after finding this forum and educating myself even more about catholicism, i find that when i was confirmed, i did not really know much about what it was or what was happening. I remember asking people what confirmation was, because i heard them saying this word, but i never understood their answers. I feel as though im not as part of the church as i could have been since i wasnt really knowing what was going on during confirmation. Many of my catholic friends are doing confirmation now at the age of 16 or 17. I feel that if i was doing this now, i would understand it a lot more and get a lot more out of it and be closer to God and Jesus. I also feel sinful for not having been to confession or mass in a while and I would appreciate any answers or feedback any of you have on this- Im sorry it is so long! Also: I am quite interested in wearing a scapular- i remember receiving one of the brown ones at a young age but i cannot locate it now! I want to learn! Thank you so much for reading this- Caroline
ps- i just want to add that for a while in about 7th grade during the divorce and stuff, i kind of fell apart from the church- i doubt i couldve even remembered my Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be, though now i say these prayers every night. I think it was more because of how i felt about my dad and he was always strongly catholic, and i always thought he was so religious just so that he could commit all these sins and still be saved. Im sorry, i shouldnt say these things but thats how i felt- i even played with the idea of switching religions, all in a joking matter, but i feel it was more about the lack of education about my own religion and my own God, though i’ve always believed in God and Jesus anyway, i was surprised to learn many of the Catholic beliefs that i didnt know i was supposed to believe though now i do believe them no that i have educated myself and began looking online at sites like catholic answers and reading the bible.
Sooo sorry for dragging this on and on!
 
I suggest if you have an iPod, or even if you don’t, to subscribe to some Catholic podcasts. These are a GREAT way to learn all about the church. I must say when I started to really come into the Church, The Catholic Answers Live podcast helped me learn all sorts of things. On my current list of podcasts is:

Catholic Answers LIVE
EWTN (Sunday Night Live, Mother Angelica, and the Journey Home)
iPadre
Catholic Word on Fire
Catholic: Under the Hood

These (especially CAL and EWTN) are a terrific way to learn on your own free time.

As far as you feeling distant from the Church, I think that has more to do with you feeling you lack alot of knowledge about it, and the fact that you have not been to Confession. I really suggest learning all you can (as I said…podcasts are great). Most importantly though, work yourself up to getting to Confession. It took me two years to finally go to confession, but hopefully you will go sooner. Believe me, I have some pretty disgustingly horrible mortal sins that I don’t even like to think about myself…much less tell someone else. However, there is nothing so wonderful (except receiving Christ in the Eucharist) as confessing your sins, and hearing the words of Christ being spoken out loud to you " I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

I think that time to learn, and Confession are really what you need. I will pray for you. May Christ’s peace be with you always!
 
You are already home…you just detoured for a while.
If you want to learn more about your faith…the podcasts are good as well as listening live online…relevantradio.com or AveMaria Catholic radio too.

Also consider going to any church, going to confession and asking the priest for a spiritual director. Spiritual direction is not the same thing as going to confession…and not all spiritual directors are priests…but they are trained to help guide you to the place you really want to be in your heart and soul.

You are in my prayers. You were dealt a difficult blow with your parent’s divorce but know this, even though your family life has not been the ideal, God still loves all of you. Warts and all, and He wants us all to be with Him in heaven one day. We can still do that, even though we detour or fall along the way, with His help and the intercession of the communion of saints. Keep praying, keep your chin up and go get some spiritual direction. You will be glad you did! You are in my prayers as well.😉
 
Hi,
Do you remember the vows you took during confirmation. If not, just read through the ceremony and vows. You may find it refreshing and have a better conviction of the faith. You are confirmed, you are a soldier in Christ. The Lord had you confirmed at a early age for a reason. Try to stay in communion with the Church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it! So stay close. God Bless your efforts.
I’m enrolled in the Confraternity of the Carmelite Order and wear the brown scapular as well. During the enrollment , the Priest ok’ed the Rosary as a prayer of devotion. I’m not sure what other prayers you have to do in the normal devotion. Kiss the scapular as you put it on and take it of for the 500 day indulgence saying, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, save more souls”.
Don’t worry about not knowing all that is involved with your faith, learn what you feel compelled to. My wife has always had strong faith, but not knowing why things are, she never asked, she is content with what knowledge she has and is not troubled. She always said that is the way it is, obediently and believes. That can be a strength as well. Some like me have to know all the answers and reasons. It can be mind numbing and fruitful, but I don’t think it is necessary. But that is my opinion. I agree, a spiritual adviser can be a huge help. But discern that carefully. Ask your Priest if he knows someone that may fit you. It may take a face to face confession for him to discern that. Stay strong in your journey. Tim
 
no you cannot be re-confirmed, anymore than you can be re-baptized. both sacraments leave an indelible mark or character on the soul and cannot be repeated. what you can and should do without delay is go to confession and return to the Eucharist, attemd Mass regularly, go back to daily prayer and frequent recourse to the sacraments. Then you should devote a few minutes, at least 15 to regular bible reading daily, and to learning more about your faith. Suggestions above are a great way to start. You can also begin praying to the Holy Spirit to activate in your life the gifts you received at Confirmation: wisdom, understanding, counsel, Knowledge, piety, fortitude and fear of the Lord.
 
You cannot be re-confirmed, but you can learn more of your faith. Look around on here, there’s a links page of a lot of on-line information. If you’re into podcasts, check out feedburner.com, there’s a lot of things out there. St. Michael’s RCIA podcasts are good for information. If you get EWTN, Fr. Corapi has a weekly show on Sundays about the Teachings of Jesus Christ. If you don’t get EWTN, you can watch live from their website. These are all good places to start, as well as what puzzleannie has said.

God bless you!
 
Thanks so much all of you- i’ll work on all of the things you guys suggested. Its very encouraging to hear, and i look forward to becoming closer with my Catholic faith. It will also be much easier in a year when i go to college and i have my own time to go to church and practice my religion, even if i still dont have my own car

Thanks- Caroline
 
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