Confirmation Programme 2022
During the 2022 Confirmation Programme, we will upload a session summary to help both candidates and parents reflect on the topics covered at each session.
We hope this will be a useful resource.
Session summary below
Session 1 – Come Holy Spirit
Our first session aimed to introduce the candidates to each other at the SPEC retreat centre in Pinner.
The theme was ‘Come Holy Spirit’ and the group explored who /what/where is the Holy Spirit and reflected on their own lives.
Here’s a couple of things anyone reading this page can try regardless of whether you’re a parent or candidate, sibling or sponsor.
- Click to play the short section of video on the Holy Spirit taken from The Alpha Youth Programme, then jot down some of the ways you might explain the Holy Spirit to others.
For example, you might write the word ‘flame’ or you may prefer to draw a flame.
- Reflect on who you are.
Try copying (or download) the attached template called ‘Sharing Sheet’ courtesy of SPEC and start to doodle; colour in; label or mark in some way on the paper. You may leave some things blank or fill everything in – it’s your piece of paper.
You may wish to listen to this short recording to help jog some thoughts or feelings. Or, you could just use it as ‘background noise’.
Music by ZakharValaha from Pixabay
When you’re ready to finish your reflection, you may wish to recycle the paper or keep it in a folder or seal it in an envelope or share it with a loved one. You may feel you want to reflect further on something.
If you need some suggestions, advice or support, feel free to contact Fr Andrew.
Who am I?
Our first session in the hall included young people who hadn’t been able to make the retreat, so we took some time to re-cap on the activities and topics we’d covered.
We then considered what the Confirmation programme is about and compared it to having a tool box or smart phone apps to support us ‘for life’.
Apps are great! – They help you do things you need to do; fix problems; create new things; acquire things.
Yep – there’s an app for everything – but sometimes too many things.
Do we have a sort-out occasionally and look at what’s serving us in the right way currently?
Maybe we need to delete a few apps [or re-frame thoughts and feelings] that aren’t helpful to us anymore.
For example, we may be very consumed by the way other people look; or how they act or the people they hang-out with.
Maybe we’re struggling with aspects of who we are or how we relate to other people.
Maybe life is just tough and we feel like we have to overcome obstacles on a daily basis…….we are who we are.
We can take comfort that God has created each one of us and loves us as we are.
The Confirmation programme introduces us to the right apps for a good life.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
At Confirmation, we receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
They give us support and direction for our lives as Christians.
Can you describe these gifts in your own words?
Do you see them working in people you know?
Which one or two particularly speak to you?
WISDOM KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTANDING
RIGHT JUDGEMENT COURAGE
REVERENCE AWE AND WONDER
Work from session 3
Who is God?
In this session, we explored scripture passages that help us understand who God is.
Take a look at John Chapter 14, verses 15 to 17 and ask yourself:
What does this passage say about who God is?
What does this passage tell us about the Holy Spirit?
What does this passage tell us about the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
Who am I before God?
We then went onto look at what this understanding of God means to each one of us, by asking Who am I before God?
By reflecting on scripture passages from Genesis, Adam and Eve, Prodigal son, Our Father and Pentecost we can see how much we are loved by God.
We are created by God. Nothing stops God from loving us. Nothing.
The Father loves Jesus into being. The Father loved us into being.
The Son loves the Father. The Son loves us. Just look at his actions in the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit is the bond of love between Father and Son. It is the bond that binds us to the Holy Trinity.
We are part of this community.
Father | Son | Holy Spirit