Given what we know about adolescent spirituality, effective catechesis, and youth ministry, how might we enhance confirmation’s ability to be a more formative experience in the lives of young people? Instead of focusing on the practical, perhaps we need to consider what is possible?
Mike phrased the workshop using the image of time, “What if a month were condensed into an hour?”
- 30 days =60 minutes
- 1 day=2 minutes (a day of 16 hours awake time)
- 8 hours=1 minute
- How many minutes do you have for your confirmation process? 1 minute…2 minutes…3 minutes
Confirmation programs are a commercial…a public service announcement. The new catechetical question is…How do you want to spend your 2 or 3 minutes?
Today’s Confirmation programs must be really intentional. What can they get through us that they can’t get other places?
- How can we help our adolescents use some of their 57-59 minutes?
- How can we help them grow in faith on their own time…but not alone?
Suppose we vision confirmation programs in a mentoring environment?
Suppose we engage in meeting adolescents where they are and driving them out of their minds…for a minute or two if order for them to consider:
- …the minds of others?
- …the mind of Christ?
- …the mind of the Church?
Suppose we help them develop the skills and language to articulate:
- Their grasp of the tradition?
- The nature of grace?
Suppose we asked them to develop a spiritual growth plan:
- Knowledge
- Attitude
- Behavior
- Horizontal spirituality (faith is a personal relationship between me and Jesus)
- Vertical spirituality (faith is important for me to be a good person)
- Internal spirituality (faith helps me to cope with life…I accept myself better)
There is life after Confirmation and the answer is discipleship. Discipleship…within a community of Disciples…for the good of the World and the glory of God.
Dr. Mike Carotta is a well-known author, consultant, and religious educator who has worked with the spirituality of adolescents in pastoral, clinical, educational, and athletic settings for thirty-five years. Recent works include two confirmation resources: Have Faith and Spirit and Truth, as well as Lincoln Park, a junior high mystery series with spiritual messages (co-authored with John Shea). Mike is currently the consultant for Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) and has been the general editor of OSV’s high school textbooks built on the bishops new curriculum framework.
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