Collaborative Confirmation Program
Spring 2020 Update (Updated 3/31/2020)
As you know, all public and private schools in Massachusetts are closed through at least May 4, 2020. In addition, the Massachusetts stay-at-home advisory and executive order requiring all non-essential businesses to close has also been extended through May 4, as has the 10-person limit on gatherings in the state. In keeping with these orders and advisories, the Archdiocese of Boston has suspended all onsite parish activities and programs until further notice. As such, we can now confirm that all celebrations of Confirmation and First Communion originally scheduled for April and May at the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative must be postponed. We will keep you updated with rescheduling plans when they are determined.
Given this reality, we are providing online lesson options for all grades, and additional at-home preparation materials for our First Communion and Confirmation candidates so they will be ready to receive the sacrament when we can be together again. Please also visit our Please visit our Online Religious Education Resources page for additional (and hopefully fun!) faith enrichment opportunities for all ages! for additional (and hopefully fun!) faith enrichment opportunities for all ages!
Please continue to keep those affected by the coronavirus, their families, and our health care workers in your prayers. Please feel free to email us if you have any questions.
Linda Messore
St. John Religious Education Program Coordinator
Collaborative Confirmation Program Coordinator
Collaborative Youth Ministry Program Coordinator
linda.messore@sjspwellesley.org
Confirmation Preparation Materials
Dynamic Catholic
GRADE 9 Lesson: Session 6 Relationships
GRADE 10 Lesson: Session 12 Holiness is Possible
GRADE 10 Lesson: Session 10 Episode 4 On the Day
ABIDE Virtual Retreat
For high school teens interested in a virtual retreat at Eastertime, the ABIDE retreat team has created a virtual version of their retreat. Click here to see what they are planning to do and click here to go to the website to register.
Overview of Our Collaborative Confirmation Program
As the Sacrament that completes our Baptism, Confirmation and the associated catechetical program encourages faith development and maturation through study, service and prayer. The two-year program challenges our youth to deepen their faith and embrace the mission of service to others in need. Adult mentors and volunteers offer meaningful support and catechesis to promote the religious development of our young adults.
Our Collaborative Sunday 5pm Mass – a more deliberately youth focused liturgy that rotates from week to week between St. John Church and St. Paul Church – is at the center of preparation for Confirmation. Our hope is that this full, active participation in the liturgy, the source and summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed, will give our young people a lived connection to Christ Jesus and the community of the Church.
The program is designed as a two-year commitment which begins in the fall of ninth grade and is usually completed by the spring of tenth grade. (Individuals enrolled in a Catholic school may be exempt from attending the first year.) The program is centered on the students’ participation at Mass, supplemented with classroom work driven by the Dynamic Catholic curriculum. Classes meet as scheduled (usually once or twice a month) from 6:00 – 7:00pm following the Sunday 5pm Mass. When attending Mass at St. John or St. Paul, students will “check in” using their smartphones to scan a QR code posted in the entryways of the churches. (Mass attendance at an outside parish can be reported using the online Mass Attendance Form.) In the end, we will look to the student to assure us that they have fulfilled this requirement.
We also encourage participation in our newly reinvigorated Youth Ministry program. The focus of this program is to help give our young people a lived connection to Christ Jesus and the community of the Church, and help them to grow in faith as young adults. Youth Ministry also offers service opportunities within and outside our Collaborative, as well as social and recreational activities, to help our young people strengthen their connections to each other and to their community.
For more details on the program and specific requirements, please see the Confirmation Details and Requirements page.
(A printable version of the Confirmation Details and Requirements as well as printable versions of the Confirmation Calendar, Youth Ministry Calendar and other important documents can be accessed from the Confirmation Menu.)
For More Information
Please email Linda Messore at linda.messore@sjspwellesley.org
News and Announcements
A Special Treat from the Sunday 5pm Music Group
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New Religious Ed and Youth Ministry “Faith and Fellowship” Opportunities
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Youth Ministry “Rome Night” – Sunday, March 22 at 6:00pm at St. Paul
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