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Suggestions for Parents and Sponsors

Young adolescents need relationships with caring adult models. Parents and other adults who are willing to share their views, values and feelings are wonderful sources of guidance and encouragement. As an adult Christian model, you are asked to spend some regular time with your Confirmation candidate, sharing your own faith experience and encouraging him/her to grow in faith through prayer, a sacramental life, works of mercy and learning about the Catholic Church.

Discuss

• Tell about your own Confirmation.
• Ask your candidate about the saint she/he has chosen. How does the saint model the virtues your candidate would like to imitate?
• What service is your candidate doing? How does this service contribute to the well being of the parish or the community?
• Share stories of the times in your own life when your faith has been most important to you.

Pray

• Go to Mass with your candidate.
• Offer to bring up the gifts at the Offertory during Mass one weekend.
• Attend the Easter Vigil Service or the Holy Thursday or Good Friday liturgy together
.
• Attend Stations of the Cross together during Lent.
• Encourage your candidate to pray daily. Help your candidate explore the many ways to pray.
• Pray for and with your candidate.

Do

• Perform community or parish service together such as bringing food to S.O.M.E. on the third Saturday of each month or preparing sandwiches for Zacchaeus Soup Kitchen.
• Visit the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American born saint, at Emmitsburg , Maryland . Other wonderful places to visit are the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington , D.C. and the Franciscan Monastery.