Dear Parents,
 
Welcome back everyone!  I hope the Christmas season was a joyous and relaxing time for your family.  Quick reminder that we will begin our classes again this Sunday, January 17th, at our regular time in our regular spot.  I will be giving the students a small green book that talks about Confirmation that we will be using as a reference for the next 4 meetings.  So the only other book they need to bring is the small catechism book (St. Joseph First Communion Catechism) with the questions and answers.  We provided the parents with a Confirmation handbook from the Diocese of Fargo around Confirmation.  I encourage you to begin looking through it and sharing some information with your child, and I would especially highlight the pages around the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  As a reminder, we believe the parents are the first and most important teachers of our faith, and I only add to their development.
 
*Reminder 1- I will start asking students to answer the questions from the St. Joseph First Communion Catechism to see if they have the answered memorized (Questions 1, 2, and 3 this week).  Now this isn't a requirement to "pass" the class, but I want to encourage them to have these answers quickly come to them as they begin embracing their faith more independently.  I know Fr. Connall will be visiting us a couple of times and he is excited to "test" the students!  I think of it as having your multiplication facts memorized and how having those quick answers help you in many areas of math as you go through school.  Having these memorized will help the students have a strong base in their faith they can verbalize easily and succinctly as they go through life sharing it with others.  And you can tell with them I will be working on memorizing the responses myself, instead of bumbling around for the words trying to answer it (maybe a little learning for all of us adults too?)
 
*Reminder 2- Fr. Curtis will be speaking with the parents next Sunday, Jan 24th downstairs where class is held (and Feb 7th).
Thank you,
Shane