Like most high school juniors, Joseph Meier juggles sports, studies, family life and friendships.
For the past year, he also prepared for the sacrament of confirmation, in part by attending classes and completing service projects in his community. He helped set up for church events and assisted with an Easter egg hunt in a city park.
“I just try to do as much as I can when I can,” Meier said. “I try hard to be a good role model and example for others.”
The Holdingford student said he’s always been that way, but preparing for the sacrament taught him a lot about himself and others.
“One of the things that hit me the hardest was the topic of relationships. You’ve got to have good relationships — with God, your family, your friends,” Meier said.
He also had to grapple with tough questions about his faith.
“I was confused about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” he said. “We talked a lot about what the Holy Spirit is. Now I think of the Holy Spirit as God’s will that he sends to guide you on what your journey is.”
Meier, along with 39 others, were confirmed March 30 in the Holdingford Area Catholic Community, where Bishop Donald Kettler anointed their foreheads with sacred chrism oil and told them to “be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Meier said he “feels different now” and is taking what he learned in confirmation and applying it to his everyday life.
“I just try to understand other people, what they are going through around school and also at practice. It’s important to lift people up,” he said.
Prayer, witness, service
This spring, Bishop Kettler will preside at 21 confirmation Masses around the Diocese of St. Cloud. Father Robert Rolfes, vicar general for the diocese, will celebrate an additional seven. To date, 299 candidates have been confirmed this year, renewing their baptismal promises and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit in a new way.
When Bishop Kettler prepares to celebrate a confirmation, he tries to arrive early so he can visit with the students before the service.
“I thank the young people for receiving the sacrament because it not only has an impact on them and their families but on the whole church,” Bishop Kettler said. “With confirmation, they are … fully initiated. They are stepping forward now, hopefully as leaders in the church.”
He also uses the opportunity to thank the parents and sponsors for their role in witnessing to the Catholic faith.
During Mass, Bishop Kettler explains “what [it] means for them to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
There are three components that demonstrate this, he said — that they have deeper prayer lives, that they bear witness to their faith and Jesus Christ, and that they are servants.
“That, to me, is the core. If you are confirmed, you need to show it, to demonstrate it by what you do, by your relationship with God, by being a good example and by service to others,” he said.
It’s also important to him to visit as many parishes as possible to celebrate the sacrament.
“It is a diocesan and church-wide celebration, but it is also something that I think the parishes should experience, too,” he said. “The students came from these parishes and will go back into these parishes now to serve. There is a connectedness that it provides to celebrate the sacrament within their own communities.”
Strengthening relationships
On April 3, Bishop Kettler confirmed 27 students from the parishes of Sts. Peter and Paul in Richmond, St. Martin in St. Martin and St. James in Jacobs Prairie.
Teri Krowka-Ansberry, director of faith formation in Richmond, has been helping young people prepare for confirmation since she first taught junior high school back in the 1970s.
“What I love most is the opportunity to get to know these young people better and watch them grow in faith,” Krowka-Ansberry said. “I love to be present at our opening dialogue with both the parents and candidates. I was so impressed by the deep love and respect these families have for one another and how much they enjoy being together.”
Krowka-Ansberry said she has found that building and strengthening the relationships of the candidates with God, their parents, sponsors, peers and the faith community is an enriching focus of the process.
“We try to stress discipleship as becoming a ‘learner’ of Christ,” she said. “In order to do so, we need to listen with our heart as well as our head. Then we hope they will go out and witness as the hands and feet of Christ in the church and world.”
She said her biggest challenge is helping young people to make the connections between their faith and their everyday lives.
“I am always energized and excited when I hear them articulate in their own words how they see the Spirit at work in their lives, or recognize how they are already gifted and name the Spirit as the giver of those gifts,” she said.
“It’s only then we can be grateful and use those gifts in service to others. This brings real joy, peace and true meaning to our lives.”