Parish-based Sacramental Preparation
First Reception:
Confirmation, Reconciliation, Eucharist
Children in Grade 2 (seven years of age) receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, which is celebrated once a year by the Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Geoffrey Jarrett. Children in Grade 3 make their First Confession (known also as the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation) and First Communion mid-year.
Parental Commitment
The parish conducts “Parish-based” sacramental programs for each of these Sacraments. Those seeking these sacraments for their child, whether attending a Catholic or Government School, must attend the official meeting (as advertised in the parish and circulated in the schools), register their child at that meeting, and attend the preparation programs with their child.
Parents: "first teachers"
Parish-based programs have been introduced widely because, in the last analysis, ‘parents are the first teachers of their children in the ways of the faith' (to quote the Baptismal Rite). Only well formed, supportive parents can bring to completion the child's reception and practice of these sacraments. Teachers and catechists cannot achieve this outcome, simply because they are not the child's parents.
Rationale
Holy Spirit Parish offers parents the following explanation for such Parish-based sacramental programs:
Shared Responsibility
Our primary school and its teachers do an excellent job in providing children knowledge comparable to their age; and this will continue. But what the Church has come to realise is that the necessary preparation for each of these sacraments can only occur when parents understand fully the sacraments, visibly support their child's reception of them, and are actively involved in their preparation and practice.
Our excellent teachers and catechists know this. We know, too, that it is simply not fair for any child to receive these sacraments without full parental understanding and involvement. It is even less fair if these sacraments are, through ignorance, requested and conferred for the wrong reasons.
