OUR GOALS FOR SLY MINISTRY:

• To accompany teens as they continue growing in knowledge and love of God and His Church
• To hold conversations that explore the truth and beauty of our faith, and allow these youth to make applications that form how they live
• To help these youth see God's presence in their lives and power in the sacraments
• That these youth would have active prayer lives
• That these youth would encounter the Lord, and live as His disciples, joyfully living in the Spirit, as sons and daughters of the Father

This year, in a pastoral response to Covid-19, all youth ministry sessions will be held digitally and formatted around family formation and discussion.

• All students in Middle School and High School will meet via digital platform Sunday nights from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Attendance and participation is mandatory.

• Each student will receive a packet to complete while participating in the digital youth night. This packet will contain questions and activities that will involve other members of the family. There will be a weekly scheduled time for students to drop off and pick up their packets.

• Once a month, during the regularly scheduled Sunday meeting time, there will be a parent meeting where parents are given instructions for the digital lessons for the upcoming month. During parent meetings, students in Middle School and High School will have the option to participate in an optional in-person youth night. 

Instructions for participating in digital youth nights:

• Download the Zoom app before the youth night begins. We recommend the day before.

• To log into a Digital Youth Night
     On computer:
              1.Go to join.zoom.us - 2. Type in the Meeting ID: 912 792 4267. - 3. Click Join
     On phone or tablet:  
              1. Open the Zoom app
              2. Type in the Meeting ID: 912 792 4267
              3. Type your name into the personal link name space
              4. Click Join
              5. Once you are in the meeting, make sure the video is on by clicking “Start Video”
              6. Make sure your microphone is muted. When your microphone is muted, there will be a line across the microphone icon. 
• Si aún no tiene la aplicación Zoom en su computadora, teléfono o tableta, deberá descargar esta aplicación para poder unirse a la reunión en su aparato electrónico.
• Para iniciar una sesión de formación digital:

           En computadora:
                     1. Vaya a join.zoom.us -  2. Escriba el ID de la reunión: 912 792 4267 -  3. Haga clic en Unirse
           En teléfono o tableta:
                     1. Abra la aplicación Zoom
                     2. Escriba el ID de la reunión: 912 792 4267 
                     3. Escriba su nombre en el espacio del nombre del enlace personal
                     4. Haga clic en Unirse –
                     5. Una vez que esté en la reunión, asegúrese de que el video está encendido haciendo clic en “Iniciar video”
                     6. Asegúrese de que su micrófono este en silencio. Cuando su micrófono esté en silencio, habrá una línea en el icono del micrófono.
 

What is Confirmation? - Confirmation is the sacrament in which we receive the fullness of our baptismal graces and a new outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This sacrament also brings us fully into God's family, the Church. These graces enable us to live out our Catholic faith as sons and daughters of the Father. Confirmation is a beautiful beginning to full communion with God and helps us journey toward heaven and witness to the faith with our lives. 

Who can be confirmed at St Louis? - The Diocese of Austin states that for a student to be eligible to receive the sacrament of Confirmation they should have reached the 10th grade and must have completed at least 2 consecutive years of faith formation, leading up to the year in which they are confirmed. To receive credit for the 2020 - 2021 year of faith formation, the student must have completed more than 70% of their weekly packets. To recieve credit for previous years, the student must have attended at least 70% of the weekly faith formation classes.
  If a student meets these requirements, they can then request to meet with the youth ministers and priests to determine their readiness to receive the sacrament. The meeting to determine the student's readiness for confirmation should take place in the school year they hope to be confirmed or as scheduled by the youth ministry office,  before specific confirmation preparation classes begin in the spring semester. 

What does Confirmation preparation include? -   Once a student is approved to enter into sacramental preparation for confirmation, their formation will consist of a weekend retreat, 4 hour and a half weekday sessions, a day retreat, and a rehersal. These classes will be in additon to the faith formation students are already participating in. This is to more deeply and intentionally enter into formation just before receiving the sacrament.  As with other sacramental preparation at the parish, parent involvement is a required part of formation. A parent will be expected to attend a confirmation parent meeting and the first weekday session with their student. A parent or sponsor is required to attend the day retreat and confirmation rehersal. 

Confirmation Sessions for spring 2021
   - Mandatory Parent Meeting - Wednesday, January 20th, 7 - 8:30 pm in the SLAC - We will go through an overview of the formation process and discuss all the paperwork needed to receive this sacrament. We will also discuss retreat adaptations due to Covid - 19. Again, this meeting is mandatory.
   - In Person Retreat Option - Saturday, February 20th OR Digital Retreat Option - more information to follow
   - Confirmation Session 1 - Wednesday, March 3rd at 7 - 8:30 pm in the SLAC
   - Confirmation Session 2 - Wednesday, March 24th at 7 - 8:30 pm in the SLAC
   - Confirmation Session 3 - Wednesday, April 7th at 7 - 8:30 pm in the SLAC
   - Confirmation Session 4 - Wednesday, April 21st at 7 - 8:30 pm in the SLAC
   - Day of Reflection and Confirmation Rehersal - Sunday, May 2nd
   - Confirmation Mass - Tuesday, May 4th at 6 pm in the church

This plan for Confirmation is for students who have already been baptized and received their First Communion.
For more information about Confirmation for high school youth, email youthministry@stlouis.com or call the church office. 

 All youth ministry and faith formation is meant to be an addition to the way the Catholic faith is already being taught and modeled within the home, because parents are the first and primary educators of the faith of their children. This obiligation flows from their own personal baptismal promises and the promises they made on their wedding day to bring their children up "according to the law of Christ and His Church." For this reason, parent participation at information meetings, especially during the years of sacramental preparation for first communion and confirmation, is required. As part of this formation, it is expected that students and damilies attend Mass every Sunday and participate in the sacramental and communal life of the Church. It is through entering into the Mass and living as a part of their Church family that your children will encoutner the true source of formation,  Our Lord Jesus Christ.

   Parents are required to take part in their student formation and sacramental preparation by participating in classroom formation and at home. Families and students are required to attend Mass every Sunday at St Louis Church. Mass attendance will be monitored. Students who do not attend Mass on Sundays will not be able to move forward to the next level of instruction.