Sacramental Preparation
Youth Preparation
For Baptized Catholic Children & Youth:
Visit First Holy Communion: Youth Sacrament Preparation for more information.
General Information:
All children in Year 1 and Year 2 of First Holy Communion Preparation must register at a Sacrament Family Meeting. Family Meetings occur in April-August for the upcoming school year.
Preparation is a two-year process that begins in 1st grade with general catechesis and finishes in 2nd grade with sacramental-specific catechesis.
Families do not need to be registered parishioners to prepare for Sacraments at St. Luke.
Please contact our Faith Formation office if you are:
- New to our parish – If you are a new to St. Luke and desire to register your child for Year 2, we need email or written confirmation from your previous parish that your child participated in Year 1 (or general Faith Formation) the year prior.
Seeking Sacraments for older children – Children older than 1st/2nd grade who are baptized Catholic may receive First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion after two years of sacramental preparation; please contact our Director of Faith Formation to discuss your child(ren)’s needs.
Visit Youth Confirmation: High School Sacrament Preparation for more information.
General Information:
All youth in Year 1 and Year 2 of Confirmation Preparation must register at a Sacrament Family Meeting. Family Meetings occur in April-August for the upcoming school year.
Preparation is a two-year process – Year 1 is for youth in 9th grade, and Year 2 is for youth in 10th grade.
If youth desire to wait to receive Confirmation, they are welcome to prepare whenever they are ready. Youth who wait until after they graduate high school (and are age 18+) to receive Confirmation will follow the process for Adult Confirmation (see below).
Families do not need to be registered parishioners to prepare for Confirmation at St. Luke.
- Confirmation classes are separate from Youth Ministry.
Please contact our Faith Formation office if you are:
New to our parish – If you are a new to St. Luke and desire to register your child for Year 2, we need email or written confirmation from your previous parish that your child participated in Year 1 the year prior.
Seeking Sacraments for older children – Children older than 9th/10th grade who are baptized Catholic may receive Confirmation after two years of sacramental preparation; please contact our Director of Faith Formation to discuss your youth’s needs.
For Children & Youth Desiring Reception into the Catholic Church:
Please read through the following options to find the one closest to your situation.
- The Age of Reason is 7-years-old; therefore, children ages 7 and older must freely desire to receive Sacraments.
- The Catholic Church recognizes most Christian baptisms if they are Trinitarian (baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit).
- For children who are baptized Christian, they will spend two years of formation for the OCIC – Order of Christian Initiation for Children – receiving First Reconciliation in December of Year 2, then Confirmation and First Holy Communion during the Easter Vigil Mass of Year 2.
- While each family’s situation is unique, preparation for the OCIC is typically two years attending parish Faith Formation classes with some additional content and meetings focused on the Sacraments they are preparing to receive.
- Please contact our Director of Faith Formation to discuss your child(ren)’s specific needs.
- The Age of Reason is 7-years-old; therefore, children ages 7 and older must freely desire to receive Sacraments.
- For children who are unbaptized, they will spend two years of formation for the RCIC – Rite of Christian Initiation for Children – receiving Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion during the Easter Vigil Mass Year 2, then First Reconciliation anytime after.
- While each family’s situation is unique, preparation for the RCIC is typically two years attending parish Faith Formation classes with some additional content and meetings focused on the Sacraments they are preparing to receive.
- Please contact our Director of Faith Formation to discuss your child(ren)’s specific needs.
- The Age of Reason is 7-years-old; therefore, children 6-years-old and younger may be baptized following Infant Baptism.
- Please contact the Parish Office regarding Infant Baptism.
- Children who are baptized younger than the Age of Reason may receive First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation with their peers (at St. Luke, 1st/2nd and 9th/10th grades, respectively).
Adult Preparation
Full Communion with the Catholic Church
What does coming into Full Communion with the Catholic Church mean? In both the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, we profess one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ. We are one with the Church when we are unified with her teachings, outlined by CCC 815 and 1212 (emphasis added):
815 What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity “binds everything together in perfect harmony.” But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion:
- profession of one faith received from the Apostles;
- common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments;
- apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family.
1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundations of every Christian life. “The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.“
- Any baptized Catholic adult (18+) who desires completion of the sacraments of Christian initiation will typically join the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process.
- The RCIA is a process of spiritual growth and learning about Catholicism.
- Through the RCIA, you are invited to enter into a relationship with God and the Church.
- Contact our Director of Faith Formation or our RCIA Coordinator to join RCIA.
- The Catholic Church recognizes most Christian baptisms if they are Trinitarian (baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit).
- Adults who are baptized in a recognized Christian tradition who are interested in becoming Catholic will join the Catholic Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA).
- The RCIA is a process of spiritual growth and learning about Catholicism.
- Through the RCIA, you are invited to enter into a relationship with God and the Church.
- If you are already baptized and want to become Catholic, you will prepare for Confirmation and First Holy Communion. You will receive your First Reconciliation during this preparation as well.
- Contact our Director of Faith Formation or our RCIA Coordinator to join RCIA.
- Adults who have not been baptized will join the Catholic Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.
- The RCIA is a process of spiritual growth and learning about Catholicism.
- Through the RCIA, you are invited to enter into a relationship with God and the Church.
- Those who go through the RCIA and wish to become Christians are baptized. You will also prepare for your Confirmation and First Holy Communion. You will receive your First Reconciliation following your baptism.
- Contact our Director of Faith Formation or our RCIA Coordinator to join RCIA.