Please join us for our last CHOSEN Confirmation Preparation ZOOM session before summer on Monday, May 23 or Friday May 27 @ 6:30.
In preparation for this amazing session on knowing God as a child of God, please view the three short videos for Lesson 9 BEFORE our session this evening!
Read the OPENING PRAYER on page 74, take the quiz on page 77, and read about the life of St. Josephine Bakhita and her journey toward freedom from slavery.
Be prepared to share how you met your challenge for Lesson 8.
WELCOME!
REVIEW CHOSEN LESSON 8
Important Points:
God created us to share in his divine life and gave us the sacraments to impart that grace to us.
The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. (In simple words: God transforms us with his divine love and power deep inside our souls when we receive the GIFT of a sacrament.)
There are SEVEN Sacraments:
Three Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Holy Communion (Eucharist), Confirmation;
Two sacraments of healing : Reconciliation or Confession and Healing of the Sick, and,
Two sacraments of Service: Matrimony and Holy Orders.
CHALLENGE FOR WEEK #8: Choose one, describe what you did and how it felt.
Do something small for God. LOVING AND SERVING OTHERS
Ask God to help you to sincerely forgive someone who has hurt you. Offer a spiritual gift to God for this person's well-being: e.g. dedicate prayer time, extra chores, LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
Experience the Sacrament of the Eucharist at MASS this week! LEARNING TO BE LOVED BY GOD MORE DEEPLY
OPENING PRAYER (The Creed We Profess during the Sacrament of Baptism)
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
All: I do!
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
All: I do!
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
All: I do!
This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All: Amen.
DIVE IN: Page 76
Is there a difference between knowing ABOUT something or someone and KNOWING something or someone because you have had a deep, life-changing experience/encounter?
In your Confirmation Preparation....we pray that you come to know and love our living God with all your heart! How can you tell when someone is transforming into this way of Life?
Let's Watch the Videos:
Segment #1: Actions Have Consequences: Our Merciful God's Way VS. The Way of the World
OUR God is a God of MERCY who wants to restore us to ORIGINAL HOLINESS for Eternal Life
Jesus made a way for us to turn away from an ORIGINAL SIN way of life starting with BAPTISM
HOLINESS: describes the perfect, eternal, mutually loving relationship God intended for us at creation. God's purpose for every one of us is to be restored to original holiness to live in God's Kingdom now and forever.
Segment #2: What is Baptism:
GOD has been using water as a means of DESTRUCTION and RENEWAL: destruction of darkness and evil and renewal of God's holiness of life in each of us.
BAPTISM is our first SACRAMENT of Initiation and our necessary FIRST STEP of renewal toward the Holiness of Life we experience in God's Kingdom. We are baptized into the Name (IMAGE) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We become part of God's Family. Others can see the reflection of Christ in us and through us!.
Through the holy water of Baptism, we are cleansed of ORIGINAL SIN (from Adam and Eve's bad choices) and through God's grace given the Holy Spirit to live in us, to strengthen and guide us as we learn and grow to love God and others with all our hearts.
We receive an INDELIBLE (cannot be removed) mark (with the oil of Chrism) that we are now part of God's Family
CONFIRMATION will be our second ANOINTING to commit our whole being to learn and grow as a child of God into maturity forever as a member of his FAMILY.
Segment #3: The Symbols of Baptism
See BAPTISM through God's Perspective: "The Eyes of Faith".
WATER: The Holy Water cleanses the soul from the DESTRUCTION of sin and death and the pouring of water, in the NAME of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, through God's GRACE actually brings NEW LIFE in Christ to the newly baptized.
WHITE garments: symbolize the PURITY of the Risen Christ entering the soul of the newly baptized.
The SIGN OF THE CROSS: symbolizes the grace of the freedom from the slavery of sin that Christ won for all of us through his death and resurrection.
SACRED CHRISM: places the indelible mark of Christ that will be CONFIRMED and COMPLETED at CONFIRMATION.
LIGHT of the candle: lit from the Christ Candle represents the internal of grace of the light of Christ in the newly baptized...
THE BAPTIZED ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
CHALLENGE for Week 9:
Review the videos several times.Share the teaching from each segment with someone who might be interested in having their child baptized
Review the videos and notes and write out or tell how this lesson will inspire you to make the most of your remaining confirmation preparation sessions.
Read about the St. Josephine Bakkhita page 80 and share what inspired you about her life.
Closing Prayer
“When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs ...”
-Romans 8:15-17 Heavenly Father, thank you for restoring our inheritance! We are beginning to understand the beauty and power of our Baptism. We know it’s not only a treasured Catholic tradition, but a holy initiation into your royal family, and that it changes our souls forever. Help us to stand tall as children of God, anointed, sealed, and blessed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FINAL REFLECTION for the CHAT: Select one or more by # and/or add your own learning.
What are you learning about the beauty and power of BAPTISM?
It is a HOLY INITIATION into God's Royal Family: We ARE children of God!
The Sacrament of Baptism is an amazing GIFT from God that gives a NEW WAY OF LIFE back to ORIGINAL HOLINESS as God intended at creation.
We receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Baptism:
God's WISDOM and
UNDERSTANDING of God's WILL for our Lives.
God's GUIDANCE to make right choices and
COURAGE to carry out those choices
The ability to KNOW GOD from the heart
The yearning to be and pray with our HOLY God throughout the day (PIETY)
HOLY FEAR: The divine respect and reverence for God the Father that Jesus has.
4. The Sacraments of the Eucharist (FIRST COMMUNION) and CONFIRMATION
strenghtens what God started in us in BAPTISM: These sacraments deepen the Holy
Spirit's transformation and love for God in US.
