Next step on faith journey

WAYNE  For teens on their faith journey, the Sacrament of Confirmation is the next step for them to grow stronger in their relationship with Jesus and his Church. Because of the importance of this Sacrament, Bishop Serratelli met with high school students, mostly freshmen and sophomores from across the diocese, at DePaul Catholic High School here Feb. 19, as they continued their preparation for the final sacrament of initiation in the Church. The Bishop previously met with Confirmandi at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta and at St. Paul’s Inside the Walls in Madison.

The Diocesan Office of Evangelization at St. Paul’s coordinated the event. Father Paul Manning, diocesan vicar for evangelization, led the program, which included catechesis by the Bishop, a question and answer session, music by Fiat Ventures and prayer time with exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

During his talk, the Bishop told the young people the need for a relationship with Jesus. “Our hunger can only be filled with a relationship with Jesus,” he said. “Jesus is the living bread. Jesus satisfies our deepest hungers. Jesus is the one that makes us know true love. We are made to know God but also to make known his glory. Anything less than a deep personal relationship with Jesus, whether we are making our First Communion, whether we are making our Confirmation, whether we are getting married or whether we are getting ready to die, anything less than a deep personal relationship with Jesus leaves us empty, restless, discontent and anxious for something more. God has filled the world around us with so many signs of how good he is. Sunsets; the seas with life; our families who love us; our friends who care for us. Even our very lives — our bodies are signs of God’s love.”

The Bishop concluded his catechesis by saying, “Your Confirmation day will be Pentecost all over again. When it comes to God, we don’t do it my way. We do it God’s way. That’s why every time we pray the ‘Our Father,’ we say, ‘Thy will be done;’ not my will be done. Just to conclude, we have a very happy event — your Confirmation. It is a great event in your life. It’s a great event in your venture in faith.”

After the catechesis, Bishop Serratelli invited the young people to ask him questions. Leah Almodovar, a Confirmation candidate from St. Anthony Parish in Passaic, asked the Bishop, “Who is your favorite saint?”

“The Blessed Mother would be my favorite saint. God placed her in the Church and Jesus said ‘behold your mother.’ He is giving us Mary as our own mother with such great love,” said the Bishop. “Other saints, who are my favorites are St. Anthony of Padua. St. Alphonsus Ligouri, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Lucy Filippini.”

Father Paul Manning and Brian Honsberger, assistant director of evangelization at St. Paul’s, held a trivia contest for all the Confirmation candidates. Questions included ones from Catechism on the Incarnation, the Lord’s Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven and the Holy Spirit. Taking first-place honors in the trivia contest was Erin Collier from St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester and Rafael Sanchez of St. Anthony Parish in Passaic.


To end the day, Father Kevin Corcoran, priest-secretary to the Bishop, led Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during which the young people knelt in reverence.

Julie Quinones, who is preparing for Confirmation at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Paterson, said, “Today was very enlightening and it made me realize how much more I want to grow in my faith.”

Also at the event was Timothy Forst from St. Jude Parish in Hopatcong, who said, “I thought this was an interesting experience. It reiterated what I’m already learning.”