The leadership team and I wish to congratulate you for making it this far in your faith journey as a Catholic! All of your effort toward growing in wisdom, knowledge and relationship with Christ has led this very special moment of our life—the day of your Confirmation. In receiving this Sacrament, you have been sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, receiving special strength and graces that will allow Christ to use you in tremendous new ways if you only allow Him to do so. From this point onwards you are declared a fully initiated Catholic in the eyes of the Church... so now what? Well my brothers and sisters, I can only simply respond to that question with “welcome to the start.”
God now sends you forth to share your gifts and talents with the world to build up the Kingdom on Earth! It all begins right here, right now. You are no longer the “future” of our Church—you are the “now” of the Church— more specifically, our community! Think about the many active ministries that need your involvement including, but not limited to: altar serving, lec- turing, St. Vincent de Paul ministry and more! Pray about where the Lord is leading you next, and most importantly, be not afraid to say “yes.” As youth minister, I look forward to helping you continue to grow in faith, commu- nity and service as you now transition to St. Thomas Aquinas Life Teen, our faith community for high school teens.