In the first class we watched clips from the movie Apollo 13 and we discussed our journey in life towards heaven, the roadblocks we encounter and help we receive along the way. Confirmation is one key step along the journey that gives you the strength and courage to continue pressing forward. The Church is like Houston, doing all it can to get you safely to Heaven. This next year we will look at the Church and at our faith and how it dramatically impacts our lives. Please watch the following clips, read through the additional materials posted, and then submit the discussion questions in the Google Form. The password is smaconfirmation (no capitals, no punctuation).
FOR HOMEWORK: Please read through the additional materials below (these are in your binder handouts but we will not review them in class) and then answer the discussion questions in the Google Form at the end of the page.
IF YOU MISSED CLASS: Please watch the clips/movie below, read through the additional materials and answer the discussion questions + the missed class questions in the Google Form at the end of the page.
Scripture Passages
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. John 14:1-3
Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. 3:20
Catechism Quotes
By her very mission, “the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God.” #854
Movie Quotes
Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell has spent more time in space already than any other man, and I asked him recently if he ever was scared. Oh well I have had an engine flame out a few times in an aircraft and I was kind of curious if it was ever going to light up again, and things of that nature… but, they seem to work out. Is there a specific instance in an airplane emergency when you can recall fear? Well I tell you I remember this one time I’m in a banshee at night in combat conditions, so there’s no running lights on the carrier. It was the Shangri La, we were in Japan, and my radar had jammed, and my homing signal was gone because somebody in Japan was actually using the same frequency, so it was leading me away from where I was supposed to be, and I’m looking down at a big black ocean. So, I flip on my map light, and then suddenly, zap, everything shorts out right there in my cockpit; my instruments are gone, my lights are gone, and I can’t even tell what my altitude is. I know I’m running out of fuel so I’m thinking about ditching in the ocean and I look down there and in the darkness there’s this green trail, it’s like a long carpet that’s laid out right beneath me and it was the algae. It was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship and it was just leading me home. If my cockpit lights hadn’t shorted out there’s no way I’d have ever been able to see that. So you never know what events are going to transpire to get you home.
Quotes to Ponder
“And if I go and prepare a place for you” – He left to prepare a place for us, for all of us – “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn 14:3). And he will come, not only will he come at the end for everyone, he will come each time for each one of us. He will come to seek us out to bring us to him. In this sense, death is a kind of step toward the encounter with Jesus who is waiting for me to bring me to him. – Pope Francis 24 August 2022
So long as we live in this mortal body we are journeying toward You, O Lord; here below we have no lasting dwelling place, but seek one which is to come, since our home is in heaven. St. Augustine
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
Kahoot Answers
- What is NOT a Sunday Mass time at SMA? Sunday Masses at SMA are Saturday at 4:00pm and Sunday at 7:00am, 9:00am, 11:00am and 6:00pm 🙂
- What is NOT an image used to describe the Church? The Church is known as a mother, a hospital and a boat. It is called a “mother” in numerous Church documents. Pope Francis has called the Church a “field hospital” on a number of occasions and it has become a common descriptor: “This is the mission of the Church: the Church heals, it cures. Sometimes, I speak of the Church as if it were a field hospital. It’s true: there are many, many wounded! So many people need their wounds healed! This is the mission of the Church: to heal the wounds of the heart, to open doors, to free people, to say that God is good, God forgives all, God is the Father, God is affectionate, God always waits for us.” (2015) Lastly, the Church is describes as the “barque” (boat) of Peter that is tossed about by waves but never submerged. A bird – a dove – is used to depict the Holy Spirit.
- Jesus established the Catholic Church. True! Jesus established the Church with the words of Matthew 16:18 – And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
- Where is the Vatican, the headquarters of the Church, located? The Vatican is the home of the Catholic Church. With just a 2-mile city border, the entire city is less than one-eighth the size of Central Park in New York. Despite its incredibly small nature, the Vatican is indeed a city-state and the smallest country in the world. (vaticancitytours.it)
- The invisible head of the Church is Jesus Christ; the visible head of the Church is Pope Francis; the local head is Archbishop Aymond.
- The Bishops of the Catholic Church are the successors of the: Apostles
- The Church can change its discipline (ex. fasting laws) from time to time. True! For example, the church used to hold to the discipline that we must fast for 24 hours before receiving the Eucharist! (This is where the work break-fast comes from!) The Church now requires us only to fast for one hour before receiving the Eucharist.
- The Church can change its dogmas (defined doctrine) from time to time. False! The Catholic Encyclopedia defines dogma as: “a truth appertaining to faith or morals, revealed by God, transmitted from the Apostles in the Scriptures or by tradition, and proposed by the Church for the acceptance of the faithful.” Examples of dogmas include the that Mary is the Mother of God, that the Whole Christ is present under each of the two Species (Body and Blood) and There is only one God.
- The Catholic Church was founded in the year _ in _. In the (approximate) year 33 in Jerusalem. While Jesus said he would found the Church, the true founding came from his death (and his being pierced by a lance) and by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is believed to have taken place around 33AD.
- Which came first? The Catholic Church came first, based on what we said above. Both the New Testament and the Gospels were later compiled based on what the Church determined was “canonical” or truly inspired Word of God.
SMA Confirmation 