Help! Confirmation Class full of unvbelievers!

[paul_c]

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
if you are not predisposed to the graces , they won’t do you any good.

What part of the catechism does this contradict? If you are going to help us, you can’t just make blanket, unexplained statements like this.

Let me give you my understanding more specifically, and then perhaps you can enlightenment me on where I am going wrong.

1. Man has free will and can choose to cooperate with the graces given him or not,
2. If man chooses not to cooperate with grace and never repents, he will be condemned
3. To facilitate man choosing to cooperate with grace, he must be trained in the faith to fully understand his obligations and the ramifications if he fails to meet them
4. This training can and should occur both before and after confirmation
5. The timing of confirmation is a pastoral issue focused on how best to provide that training.
   → Some bishops believe that delaying confirmation to the teen years allow them more time to prepare the candidates to accept the graces provided in the sacrament. Part of this involves the continued motivation of the candidates to seek training.

These were the words of my DRE on the question:

I agree that the Sacrament of Confirmation can be received at the age of reason if the child comes from a family where the faith is lived. In such circumstances, the child will always be learning the faith from lived experience and the parish will be building on this experiential education by teaching formal doctrine. There are pastoral reasons for delaying the reception of the sacrament. The context of modern culture and its characteristic pervasive practical atheism is a large factor in this consideration.

From how it sounds, your own bishop shares this view. Remember, this is a consideration of church practice, not doctrine. Church practices can and must be changed with the situation to help in the salvation of the members fo the church.

→ The alternative view that you espouse is that confirmation should be administered as soon as practically possible to arm the candidate with the fullness of grace. This is clearly a minority view in the church today. Why do you think that is the case?

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
Her strong position is that we need later confirmations because most students need more time to be properly prepared

Which documents does it contradict? Canon law allows confirmations to be delayed until age 16, does it not?

I hope at least this has given you some food for thought on what and how you present Confirmation to your students.

It did indeed. I am taking your point of view very seriously and have done many hours of research and had a long discussion with my DRE, who I truly respect on the subject. Because of this discussion, I will alter how I approach the confirmandi in the following way:
I will no longer tell them that they are making the choice to be Catholic and will emphasize the fact that they were Catholic on the day of their baptism. I will tell them that they are making the choice to accept the graces associated with confirmation: the gifts of the holy spirit. I will further press on the free will point: that they have the choice to cooperate with these graces and be saved or to deny them and be condemned. And I will make the further point that the reason that they are being offered this sacrament as a teenager and not a 7 year old is so that they can fully understand how to use these graces to live out the faith before accepting them.

Now, let me ask you a question. Why are you so vigorous on the order of confirmation when the vast majority of US bishops, including your own, obviously feel that delaying confirmation makes more pastoral sense? What do you know that they don’t?

 

[1ke]

What part of the catechism does this contradict?

1308 Although Confirmation is sometimes called the “sacrament of Christian maturity,” we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need “ratification” to become effective. St. Thomas reminds us of this:

Age of body does not determine age of soul. Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity: as the book of Wisdom says: "For old age is not honored for length of time, or measured by number of years. "Many children, through the strength of the Holy Spirit they have received, have bravely fought for Christ even to the shedding of their blood.

Why are you so vigorous on the order of confirmation when the vast majority of US bishops, including your own, obviously feel that delaying confirmation makes more pastoral sense? What do you know that they don’t?

I don’t know anything they don’t. I know that Vatican II and Pope Paul VI called for restored order.

Everything moves slowly in the Church. It is not surprising that this is taking so long. So, I pray for its continued move through the US towards restored order and a return to receiving Confirmation at the age of discretion.

 

[paul_c]

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
What part of the catechism does this contradict?

you must balance 1308 with 1309:

1309 Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit - his actions, his gifts, and his biddings - in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community. The latter bears special responsibility for the preparation of confirmands

.
And nothing in 1308 states that delaying confirmation within Canon law is inappropriate. It merely cautions that age isn’t everything when dealing wtih the spiritual maturity. Some are spiritually mature at an early age, others never get there. If I would take 1308 and 1309 together, it might say to confirm when the person is spiritually mature. Perhaps the US bishops think that this normally takes until people reach their early teens. Have you considered that?

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
Why are you so vigorous on the order of confirmation when the vast majority of US bishops, including your own, obviously feel that delaying confirmation makes more pastoral sense? What do you know that they don’t?

I can’t find this documentation. Where is it? It seems hard to believe that the Council would be inconsistent with Canon law still after 50 years. That small snippet from Paul VI in Bishops Olsted’s document is not compelling. Just because he listed the sacraments in that order, doesn’t mean that he demanded that they be in that order.

Everything moves slowly in the Church. It is not surprising that this is taking so long. So, I pray for its continued move through the US towards restored order and a return to receiving Confirmation at the age of discretion.

Why do you pray for this? Don’t you trust the bishops to know how to care for their flocks in this regard?