This is the question I have heard and will hear again on Monday evening when the young people take their Confirmation exam – I like to call it an assessment but to them it’s an exam!

I explain it this way:

This is not a matter of passing or failing to see if you’ll be allowed to be confirmed. If you don’t do well, that means that you and I have some work to do.

You and your parents have stated your intention that you want to be confirmed. This assessment tells us just how well you’re fulfilling that intention.

We want you to know and love the Lord. When you know and love someone, you are able to talk about them. This assessment will show us your progress in getting to know the Lord.

If you do poorly and feel bad about it, don’t worry…I’ll work with you to help you. If you do poorly and don’t care, then you and your parents and the DRE need to talk about whether this is the right time for you to be confirmed.

At our last session, we provided the young people with a study sheet that outlines what will be on the assessment and they have had 2 weeks to prepare. It will be interesting to see how they do come Monday!