. . . youth ministry “is the Church's mission of reaching into the daily lives of modern young people and showing them the presence of God…It is a return to the way Jesus taught, putting ministry before teaching and people over institutions. In this ministry, religious content is a way of life for the person ministering and the young person touched, through a sequential development of faith, dependent on the readiness and need of the adolescent.” (Vision of Youth Ministry, USCC, 1976)

Preparation for Confirmation takes place within the context of a parish's total youth ministry effort. Both the sacrament of Confirmation and ~youth ministry ~hare the'common vision of integrating young people more fully into the life of the faith community. Within the context of parish youth ministry, the Confirmation program builds on a parish's effort to reach and involve youth. After Confirmation the young person should continue to be involved in the parish's youth ministry as well as be invited to participate in other aspects of parish life. At this point, continuing integration is of primary importance. Through such a framework, we are following the directive of the National Catechetical Directory, “Youth catechesis is most effective within a total youth ministry.”

The Church in its ministry to youth is committed to the fullest personal development of young people. This ministry is multidimensional, encompassing relationships to self, others, and God, particularly within a context of a supportive community. This ministry is TO YOUTH, when the Christian community exercises its pastoral role in attending to young people's needs: WITH YOUTH, because young people share with adults a common responsibility to carry out the Church's mission: BY YOUTH, when young people exercise their own ministry to others, particularly to their peers: FOR YOUTH, in that adult youth ministers attempt to interpret the needs of youth and act as advocates in articulating youth's legitimate concerns to the wider community. (Vision of Youth Ministry, USCC, 1976)

Youth ministry works to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person and seeks to draw him/her to responsible participation in the life, mission and work of the faith community. In order to accomplish this the youth minister must:

• recognize youth as a unique time of personal development, psychologically and spiritually
• be concerned with the total person
• recognize that youth ministry is rooted in relationships
• recognize and develop the gifts of the individual, building a positive sense of personal worth
• call the young person to community in the Church and to ministry in that community. (Vision of Youth Ministry)

It is important in ministry to youth to reflect upon the development of the young people who will be a part of our, programs. Following are some of the psychological and faith characteristics we can expect to encounter in adolescents. It is especially important in our Confirmation preparation that we be sensitive to these characteristics and needs so that unrealistic expectations are not applied in the design of our programs. For a detailed description of the developmental stages of adolescents and their implications for youth ministry, refer to the appendix.

The Sacraments of Initiation into Christ and the Church are Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist (All three sacraments are required for FULL COMMUNION in the church, Canon 842.2). Confirmation for high sckool juniors and seniors in the Diocese of Grand Island is the normal final step of Initiation into the Church. An essential sacrament of initiation, Confirmation includes all the elements of Christian Initiation, just as do BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST.

Initiation includes the appropriate Ritual, becoming more fully part of the community, readiness for the sacrament, appropriate catechesis, and involvement with the community. Confirmation, the sacrament of being sealed with the Spirit, brings a fuller unity with Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Ritual, union with the church community, catechesis and interaction with the parish community need to be appropriate t~ the age level of the candidate for Confirmation. (See appendix)

“The Ritual needs to reflect that the GIFT of Christ's life and unity with the faithful, begun in Baptism, is fully given in the anointing of Confirmation. The desire for reconciliation and unity in Christ's dying and rising through participation in the Eucharist should be acknowledged and deepened in this sacrament. Full belonging in the community should be described to the candidates, and they should be warmly welcomed into and appreciated for the fullest communion with all believers.” The ritual, desire for reconciliation, and belonging to the community fits the actual condition of the student's psychological and faith readiness at the time of catechesis for Confirmation, so that preparation for Confirmation avoids imposing either an embarrassing childishness on the candidate or overwhelmingly adult burdens on high school students.

1. For students, belonging to the community best begins with the acute adolescent needs of coping with an emerging identity, an identity which may have very high needs for reception, discovery, testing, acceptance, belonging and new peers.

2. Eucharist/reconciliation celebrations need to emphasize the continuing and varied manner of Jesus' love for us especially in dying for us, and that participation in the Eucharist unites us with the full~.power of ChriSt's saving, healing, forgiving grace. Other moments of reconciliation, past and yet to come, are promised in their fullness to those who profess their joining in Christ's dying and rising in the Eucharist.

3. Catechesis for Initiation firmly grounds the candidate's Christian faith and life in the fullness for all life offered us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus for every human being.

4. Therefore, rituals and the anointing for Confirmation are to be designed to express the specific capacity and conditions of belonging, reconciliation, identity, acceptance, and challenges of the candidate at that time in his or her life. Rituals not only make MORE FULLY REAL one's life at that time, but provide a public and symbolic foundation for all initiation elements, which might follow later, namely: identity, conversion, community and belief.

5. Moral norms and their catechesis follow upon the above since any response in goodness requires that a person first experience himself or herself as good.

To enable the whole parish to become a welcoming community, inviting and enabling the youth to feel at home and to be part of the parish community.

To create a warm loving atmosphere in which God can touch the lives of youth.

To create an atmosphere of prayer where our youth can have a personal and warm experience with God.

To create an atmosphere in which the faith we share is not fundamentally a list of truths to be believed but a way of life to be lived in relationship with Jesus.

To be student-centered rather than content-centered.

To be attentive to the questions youth might ask, their psychology of learning, their intellectual and emotional maturity.

To create a program so ori'ented to help the youth grow up in all things in Jesus Christ and so become more fully members of a worshipping and serving Christian community.

To involve mature young adults who are already confirmed and active in the parish and who manifest a true witness to Christ and the Church as part of the Confirmation preparation.

To have a retreat for the candidates for Confirmation which, would provide an experience of Christian commitment and Christian community living.

To involve parents and sponsors in the Confirmation preparation process in such a way that both those to be confirmed and the sponsors and parents have their faith affirmed and strengthened.

To personally interview each candidate for Confirmation about their readiness for the sacrament and to pray with each candidate personally for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

To encourage each candidate for Confirmation to personally write a letter to the Bishop requesting the sacrament and to express his or her personal commitment to Jesus Christ, the Church, and to the building of the Reign of God.