Confirmation

The Sacrament of Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary disciples of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world. Through Confirmation, our personal relationship with Christ is strengthened. However, our faith is not meant to be a private faith. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service. The Holy Spirit bestows seven gifts (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord) to assist us in our mission and witness. The impact of these gifts accompanies us in the various stages of our spiritual development.

Our Faith Formation team is excited to partner with you in forming Saints! We’ll do our best to help your child learn the ins and outs of our Catholic faith and prepare to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, but our faith formation program is just one ingredient in the recipe of faith. If the other ingredients are missing, the faith won’t rise. Preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation begins at home. Parents are the first and primary educators of their children and overwhelmingly have the largest influence on the faith life of their children. “Parents are the primary educators” isn’t just a slogan schools use. It’s a fact supported by research. If you’re not taking it seriously, your child won’t either. Dropping your child off at classes once a week or enrolling them in ASA won’t keep them Catholic if the faith is not being lived at home and modeled by the parents. Please attend Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days with your children to help establish a firm foundation. Get involved in a parish ministry or two. We have a lot of them for you to choose from. Please see below for additional suggestions below.

ASA FAQs:

This one can be confusing at first, but once explained it makes sense. Per the Diocese, Sacramental prep is the responsibility of the parish. Often times when a parish also has a school, Sacramental prep is done at that school under the direction of the parish. ASA is a somewhat unique case since it is a conglomeration of four parishes. As a result, while the children are receiving an education at the school that includes religion classes, they are not receiving the necessary preparation for the reception of the Sacrament as required by each individual parish. Sacramental prep is still done by the respective parishes per the diocese’s requirements.

The diocese arranges Confirmation Masses by parish, not by school. Therefore, the children will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at a Mass with other children from St. Jude parish, not through the school and not with ASA children from other parishes (unless the diocese happens to schedule them at the same Mass).

This program is run by and financed by St. Jude, not ASA. Members of the St. Jude staff facilitate it.
Registration, paperwork, and record keeping is done by the respective parishes, not the school.
Your tuition to ASA stays at ASA – it does not go back to the parish.
As registered parishioners of St. Jude, the parish pays for nearly half of your child’s tuition (if you have more than one child, the percentage increases to more than half). “Parish Support” isn’t a “discount” for you. St. Jude actually pays more than $4000 per St. Jude student to ASA (https://asagr.org/tuition-investment). This is real money going from St. Jude to ASA to pay for a large percentage of your child’s tuition.
Weekly Mass attendance and tithing are way down since 2020 and St. Jude is regularly experiencing a shortfall (as you may have noticed in the bulletin), so we are unable to absorb the cost of the program into the St. Jude budget. The St. Jude Religious Education department relies on registration fees and goodwill donations made directly to the department to fund its programs.

Requirements for the Reception of Confirmation

Attend weekly Confirmation prep classes at St. Jude or attend Confirmation prep with the St. Jude Youth Minister during the school day at All Saints Academy.
Children should be at least 13 years old and be in the 8th grade.
Attend Sunday Mass weekly.
Parental involvement at home, attendance at meetings and scheduled special events are essential.
Write a Saint Paper (2 pages) to learn more about their chosen Confirmation Saint.
Perform Service Hours (8).

Required Documents

Complete the Sacrament Registration Form.

Baptismal Certificate. If your child was not baptized at St. Jude, parents must provide a copy of your child’s baptismal certificate to the parish office. Confirmation cannot be done validly on unbaptized persons, so it’s imperative for us to verify that a valid baptism has occurred. If your child has NOT been baptized, please reach out to us ASAP.

Checklists

As the faith formation year progresses, please use this checklist to make sure your child is prepared for their Confirmation.

Checklist is forthcoming…

Helpful Information

Parents are the primary educators of their children in all aspects of life, including faith. Whether you send your kids to ASA or to our Religious Education classes at St. Jude, what they learn at school or in class will have a much better chance of lasting if it’s also being lived at home. Check out this Parenting Tips document for some simple steps every family can take to make our Catholic faith come alive at home.

FORMED has lots of resources that can help us grow in faith and understanding. All of the videos to the right are on FORMED. If you don’t have a free subscription to FORMED, click here to find out how to get one. Normally there is a cost for this, but St. Jude pays an annual subscription so our parishioners can enjoy free access.

2026-2027 Important Dates

TBA: Sponsor meeting at 4:30pm in the Brophy Center

TBA: Retreat at St. Jude. Begins with Mass at 10:30am.

Only students attend the full retreat (10:30am – 5:00pm)
Parents/Sponsors:
- Attend Mass with the students at 10:30am.
- Rejoin the retreat at 3:15pm for parent/sponsor meetings.
Adoration will be available for everyone following the parent/sponsor meetings (app. 4:00pm).
Confession is available for students during Adoration (4:00pm – 5:00pm).
- All students should attend Reconciliation before receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Retreat ends at 5:00pm.

TBA: Confirmation Mass at the Cathedral at 7pm. Please arrive no later than 6:30pm. You may want to arrive earlier to find a place to park.

Preparing at Home

In addition to the materials provided in class, we have selected videos from FORMED to help you prepare at home. The parish has paid for your subscription to FORMED, so please take advantage of this great resource! Find out how to set up your account here. Below is a suggested schedule to help your entire family prepare for this important Sacrament.

Confirmation

ASA FAQs:

If my child attends ASA, why do I have to send them to extra classes at St. Jude?+

Will my child receive the Sacrament of Confirmation with his/her ASA classmates?+

I already pay tuition to ASA; why do I have to pay a registration fee for the Confirmation prep?+

Requirements for the Reception of Confirmation

Required Documents

Checklists

Helpful Information

2026-2027 Important Dates

Preparing at Home

September

October

November

December

January

February

March