For the past five years, an innovative Confirmation program has helped Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Parish in Branchville prepare students to become not only Christ’s followers as adults but also lifelong “evangelizers and defenders” of their Catholic faith.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, the successful two-year program aids OLQP in igniting students’ faith by giving them a comprehensive understanding of why they are Catholic. The curriculum draws from various aspects of Catholic tradition and teaching, primarily found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and connects them in a unified picture of the faith.
This cutting-edge program is now available in a new textbook, “This is Our Faith: a Confirmation Program.” Father Philip-Michael F. Tangorra, OLQP pastor, and Monica Condit, former parish religious education coordinator and Confirmation director, developed the original curriculum and expanded it for the book Amazon published on Jan. 2.
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“‘This is Our Faith’ fully and concisely expresses our faith. It emphasizes the essential relationship with God. The textbook explains what makes us Catholic,” Father Tangorra said. “The textbook could also be read like a novel. A major motif is that Jesus redeems us through the Church.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catechism endorsed “This is Our Faith” after reviewing it for authenticity and completeness. Also, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney gave it his Nihil Obstat [a determination that the book is not objectionable on doctrinal or moral grounds] and his Imprimatur [his permission to publish it].
These endorsements authorize “This Is Our Faith” to be used in Confirmation programs anywhere in the United States. It also can be used for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, formerly known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and middle and high school theology classes.
“This is Our Faith” is unique among Confirmation textbooks because it emphasizes Catholicism’s constitutive elements.
“The constitutive elements are the emphasis which helps the student understand the inner logic of our faith. It’s important to show how God, specifically Jesus, Mary, Divine Revelation, the Church, the Sacraments, and other elements are all constitutive to God’s plan for our salvation,” Father Tangorra said. “Hopefully, this emphasis will keep people coming to church and the Sacraments post-Confirmation because they understand the essential role the elements have in their lives.”
The textbook contains the Church’s teaching on God’s plan for sexuality and family in the Theology of the Body, saints’ stories, a study of virtues students can incorporate into their lives, and answers to teens’ frequently asked questions. “This is Our Faith” provides frank and accurate answers.
There are instructions for catechists about teaching the material and an accompanying video series.
“The sacrament of conversation [Confirmation] makes you an evangelist and defender of the faith to aid you in this responsibility of teaching and defending the faith,” Father Tangorra writes in a letter to students and their parents in “This is Our Faith.” “The Holy Spirit will bestow upon you seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Put these gifts into service to God and the Church, and you will find your faith set on fire.”
“This is Our Faith” is available at major booksellers.
