Author: Kerry Troost

What is expected of the School and PREP? The school assists the family in the process of initiation into the Church by:
providing learning and teaching about the sacrament
providing opportunities for prayer and personal reflection.
providing opportunities for ritual prayer and sacramental celebrations.
providing an environment that fosters Gospel values.
informing families about the processes available in the parish.
supporting the parish preparation for the sacraments.
Parish-Based The parish community invites and welcomes new members into its midst, and it is where their initiation into the faith is celebrated and their journey into Christian maturity is nourished and sustained. It is within this community that we learn what it is to be a Catholic.
It is the parish, as the place of the Christian community, which co-ordinates the activities involved in preparing the child for the Sacraments. Working with the family, the parish and the school ensure that all requirements necessary to bring the children to the Sacraments are attended to in good time.

What is expected of the Parish?
To invite families to enrol their children for the sacrament of Confirmation preparation.
To offer support through communal and personal prayer, hospitality and giving witness to Christian Living.
To offer faith formation opportunities for parents.
By working collaboratively in the preparation of our children for the sacrament of Confirmation, all who have a responsibility in nurturing faith share in this special journey on which our children will embark. This process encourages such a partnership.

IMPORTANT DATES

Enrolment Mass
Sacramental Meetings
Reconciliation
Celebration of Confirmation

Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: admin@ctl.wa.edu.au

Sacrament of Confirmation Information for Parents

Your
school emblem
here

Your
school name
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Your school phone number

offers an approach to sacrament preparation that is family focussed, parish based and school supported.
This approach is based on the understanding that parents, with the support of the school and parish, have the responsibility for passing on our Christian faith, values, traditions, beliefs and stories to the children in our parish community.
Family Focussed
The Church proclaims that parents are the primary educators of their children, and thus the responsibility for sacramental preparation firstly belongs to parents. The family is where children receive the help and example needed to live a Christian life and share in Jesus’ mission. It is in the home also that children first experience God’s love and learn about Jesus.

Parents can assist their child in preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation by:
making a connection with Baptism. Light the baptismal candle at meal time in this preparation time.
finding your child’s baptismal certificate and sharing memories of the day.
helping your child choose a sponsor.
praying together – before meals, at bedtime.
giving children the opportunity to experience belonging to a faith community especially at Sunday Mass.
giving your child the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) prior to the celebration of Confirmation.
reflecting together on the day’s happenings.
Parents, with the assistance of teachers, catechists, and the parish priest have an important role in discerning the readiness of their children to celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation.
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What is expected of parents to assist their child with the preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation?
Attend sacrament workshops
Attend the Enrolment Mass
Return all relevant paper work by due dates
(Other)
School-Supported and PREP Supported Catholic schools, by the nature of their mission and mandate, have a direct responsibility to support family and parish in the preparation of children to receive the sacraments.
In the same way, the Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) is designed to support you in providing this same preparation when your child is attending a non-Catholic school.
Always there is the underlying respect for the primary role of parents in the faith education of their children, while at the same time offering support to them in that role.
Both the school and the PREP program do this by providing knowledge and understanding through the religious education program and by providing an environment which witnesses to and teaches gospel values.