Hello St. Malachy Families!
By the end of this weekend, our parish will have 76 fully initiated Catholics! This Sunday
afternoon, our Confirmation candidates will be confirmed by Archbishop Thompson. Our
candidates have been journeying this year in 9 different small groups led and co-led by adults
and teens from the parish. In addition to being a part of a small group, each candidate
attended a retreat and served their families, parish, and local community in various ways. I
wanted to take this moment to share a little bit more of what their formation has looked like
over this past year.
The mission of their Confirmation formation (in addition to all of the years they have been
formed leading up to this year) is: “is to form Missionary disciples by giving them practical tools
on how to live out their faith and foster a deeper understanding on what it means to be a disciple
of Christ.” Thisis why they intentionally gather in small groups/faith communities throughout the year; giving a glimpse of what
it means to be part of the Body of Christ.
Another important piece of Confirmation formation is service. We do not simply focus on how many hours they can rack up, but
rather, what kind of service they are doing. Each candidate is asked to serve others through the following categories: family,
church, and community. Taking guidance from St. Teresa of Calcutta, “[if] you want to change the world, go home and love your
family.” Focusing on the impact of an action or deed done out of love. Also, seeing if we start at home serving one another just
imagine the ripple effects.
Hopefully, after sharing this, you are just excited as me to see how our confirmands, as St. Catherine of Siena says, will “set
the world on fire!” I am confident through their formation and the abundant graces they receive through the anointing of the
Holy Spirit, our Church is more vibrant.
