Children belonging to the Roman Catholic background attend something called Sunday school also known as catechism from the 1st standard to the 9th standard. After this they attend Confirmation classes in the 10th and 11th standard.
What is Sunday school (catechism)?
Sunday school basically is a one hour interactive and informative session for children that aims to increase their knowledge of the Holy Bible as well as build up their moral values. Sunday school sessions have become much more fun in the recent past because instead of only lecturing children, efforts are taken by the priests to make it more interactive with the help of the Sunday school teachers in the form of activities. It helps the children develop their communication skills and think more about life situations and decisions. They get to know the Bible better and at the same time apply what it means to their lives.
They also have interesting competitions for the children such as card decoration for parents’ day and Christmas. Also the children perform in various plays and even in musicals during the course of their Sunday school. It is the organisers generally catechists themselves who help the children get the best out of themselves. This opens the child to the outside world and helps the children become more confident about themselves in more way than one.
In the 4th standard the children receive one of the seven Christian sacraments –‘The Holy Eucharist’ also known as ‘Holy Communion’. Children receive the body of Christ for the first time and this is one of the happiest and most celebrated moments of a child’s life.
Now coming to confirmation:
Confirmation is another of the seven Christian sacraments. During the two years of this journey, the children, now turned into youth, are strengthened to face the real world i.e. the world of decisions. In the 10th standard classes are conducted for hardly 4 months and even in the 11th for around 6 months. And considering its only Sundays, the time is very less for faith formation. So here another important issue is tackled which is the decision making phase of a human. Youth at this age are generally confused about the decisions of life because they are exposed to the world for the first time and have to take decisions which will shape their future, career wise as well as their social life. At this stage there is also a strain in the parent youth relationship. So sessions are held even with the parents of the youth so that they understand the problems faced by the youth and help them through their tough times.
All this helps the youth in many ways as parents pressure decreases to a great extent because many priests and catechists take responsibilities of the youth and their decisions as well as parents trust their children more. This is one reason I personally feel that parents of catholic children are generally the ‘cooler parents’ of society. The youth get the backing up and support they need from various sources including parents. The youth also have to fulfil certain social responsibilities in the form of hours of service to the community. In simple words they have to do social service in small ways which again increases their interaction with people and widens their horizons. A certain number of hours of service is made compulsory in many parishes for the youth to be eligible for the sacrament of confirmation. On successful completion of these hours and a simple exam the child becomes eligible to receive confirmation.
And at the end of the 2 years the youth renew the promises that their parents and god parents made at baptism(another sacrament), if they choose to that is. They can choose not to receive confirmation if they don’t feel close enough to Christ. But the youth who receive confirmation are new members in the army of Christ.
Notes :
The seven sacraments are
1. Baptism - Where the child is blessed with a name and welcomed into the catholic church
2. Eucharist – Where the child receives the body of Christ in the form of bread
3. Penance- Also called confession where the people ask for forgives of their sins from the priests
4. Confirmation - Confirmation of the promises made by the child’s parents and god parents by the child himself
5. Matrimony- Marriage
6. Holy Orders – Becoming a deacon, priest or a nun
7. Anointing – People who are critically ill are anointed by priests.
All this information is from the point of view of a lay person so there may be things different in different places. Apologies if there is any wrong information and please do notify me about the same.
I have written all this because I was a confirmation animator for the 10th standard this year. Though the experience was not too good I will learn to be a better animator.
And this was some information about the faith formation in our faith.
