The Catholic Church in East Saint James Parish

"Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:14-17).

Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds.

Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one's life.              (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

PSR Transition to Seventh Grade Confirmation

In December 2024, Bishop Duca announced his decision to move the age of Confirmation from 11th Grade to 7th Grade. “Our children are experiencing a culture which, at times, is hostile to our faith. Through social media of all forms, young people are confronted at a surprisingly younger age with challenges to their Catholic faith and morals. Given this new reality, I believe it is time to lower the age of Confirmation to give our children the full grace of the Sacrament of Confirmation at an earlier age to meet these challenges.” -Bishop Duca . 

Moving forward, you may see other churches use different approaches to implement these changes. Based on our parishes’ needs and the resources available to us, we feel the following plan is the best way to implement these changes beginning in the 2025-26 PSR year. For clarity, classes will be referred to using their high school graduation year as follows:

11th grade students - Class of 2027 Current 10th grade students - Class of 2028 Current 9th grade students - Class of 2029 Current 8th grade students - Class of 2030 Current 7th grade students - Class of 2031 Current 6th grade students - Class of 2032 Current 5th grade students - Class of 2033 Current  4th grade students - Class of 2034

How will this look for our cluster?

Currently, students must be enrolled in and faithfully attend PSR all years prior to receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. Going forward, students who will receive Confirmation in 7th grade, must attend PSR all years (3rd-6th) between First Communion and Confirmation.

PSR Year 2025- 26: Class of 2027 will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 and Class of 2028 will receive the sacrament on Monday, June 1, 2026. Both will be held at St. Joseph in Paulina at 6:00 pm.

PSR Year 2026- 27 : Class of 2029 and 2030 will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on a date s TBD.

PSR Year 2027- 28: Class of 2031, 2032, 2033 will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on a date s TBD.

PSR Year 2028- 29 and beyond: 7th grade students will receive the sacrament of Confirmation.

*Students currently enrolled in Catholic school who will make Confirmation in our cluster will follow this same

We have decided to implement our program in semesters, in order to achieve this goal. Below you will find the layout of how this will look.

Class of 34 +

7th                                    Confirmation

8th                                    Fr Mike

9th                                    9/10 Youth Group

10th                                 9/10 Youth Group

11th                                 Jr/Sr Youth

12th                                 Jr/Sr Youth

Students will find more information here.

Adults will find more information here.