In his address to participants in the International Congress of Catechists on the 10th September 2022, Pope Francis affirmed that catechists and catechists are witnesses who put themselves at the service of the Christian community in order to encourage the growth of faith in the concrete of daily Life. They are those who persistently proclaim the Gospel of Mercy; those who are capable of establishing the essential connections of welcome and proximity that allow us to better taste God’s Word and experience the Eucharistic Mystery while presenting fruits of good actions. For the holy father, Catechesis is not a one-hour class, but rather a live experience of the Faith that each of us want to pass on to future generations. Certainly, we need to find the best ways to communicate our faith to people based on their age and level of understanding. However, the most important thing is the personal contact we have with each person. “Only personal contact,” the Pope said, “opens the heart to receive the first proclamation and to want to grow in the Christian life with the kind of dynamism that catechesis makes possible.”

It is in this Pope’s point of view that I was given 15 children from the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Monte Mario to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.I was prepaed them for two yeas, This is the Sacrament that allows the faithful to welcome the Holy Spirit into their hearts and receive his seven gifts: wisdom, intellect, counsel, fortitude, science, piety, and fear of God. Too often, people don’t realise how important it is. This is especially true for the youngest children, who don’t always have the right tools to follow Jesus’ path. In the course of the Preparation I realised how Parents and godparents are very important in this process. Because from their examples of life, the young Christian can understand what it means to get the sacrament of confirmation and show that he loves Jesus.

For all of us who participated in the process, it was a strong time of preparation, with a spiritual retreat, prayers, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and a seminar to help them to be strong in their Christian witness. 10 Out of 15 children were confirmed by Monsignor Paolo Selvadagi, an auxiliary bishop for the West sector of the Diocese of Rome, on November 13, 2022. I would like to thank my superiors and My entire my community for giving me this opportunity to serve Christ’s Church in this way.

Sr. Clementina SMI