Be Sealed with the Holy Spirit – Sacrament of Confirmation

The sacrament of confirmation was administered to 17 youngsters of our parish on

Saturday 10th February 2024 at the solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by

Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Bombay.

The congregation, comprising the confirmands, their parents, godparents, relatives

and friends, together with the parish community, participated with enthusiasm and

reverence in the Eucharist that was concelebrated by Fr. Nelson Saldanha, our Parish

Priest and Fr. Joseph Gonsalves, the director of the confirmation programme in the

parish. Bishop Dominic Savio, while addressing the candidates in his homily,

reminded them that upon receiving the sacrament of confirmation, they are now

adults in the church, well-formed to be witnesses of Jesus in all the situations of their

lives. He explained to them, how each of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit will enable

them to be committed witnesses for Jesus through their well lived lives. The

confirmands made a prayer of commitment to confirm their service to the church

and society.

The confirmation programme began on 18th June, 2023 followed by a meeting with

the parents of all the confirmation students and with an opening recollection by Fr.

Gavin Lopes. Every Sunday, sessions were conducted for the candidates based on

scripture, faith, morals and ethics and topics related to lives of young people. They

were conducted by Frs. Nelson, Leslie Almeida and Joseph, Bro. Anand Patil, Lilia

Fernandes and Gracy Pinto. The students were also fortunate to have sessions

conducted by professors and brothers from the seminary. All these sessions have

helped them to strengthen and build the faith journey of the candidates.

Br. Savio and his team from Orlem parish conducted a one-day recollection on the

Holy Spirit at Sarvodaya campus. The closing recollection was by Fr. Vincent D’Cruz,

director, Diocesan Catechetical Centre, Bandra. All the candidates had also

completed the mandatory 25 hours of service to the community or church and each

one had written a Saint Report on the life of their favourite saint.

The candidates, on the day of their Confirmation, had this to share:

“Heartfelt gratitude to all for accompanying us on our journey of Confirmation,

conducting classes and also arranging guest lecturers. It made a big difference in

making us better Catholics and human beings. We appreciate and thank all the

priests and speakers who made a difference in our faith formation. We will cherish

the interaction we had with our mentors and fellow classmates and will certainly

miss the Sunday morning classes.”

We are happy to see that many of these young boys and girls are involved in the

parish community.

May God bless them abundantly!

- Ms. Lilia Fernandes