by Rosie Driscoll, Coordinator of MS and HS FF
Last Sunday (May 15), on the Feast of Pentecost, over 120 teen Confirmation Candidates displayed their Pentecost Projects for parishioners and visitors to view after Masses. If you missed the exhibit, you may wonder, “What’s a Pentecost Project?”
The Pentecost Project is the service component of Good Shepherd’s Middle and High School Confirmation preparation program. It consists of 2 elements:
- service to the community in a specific area of need for a minimum of 10 hours
- creation of a poster that includes a written reflection, as well as a Bible passage and visual element that relate to the service experience
Although there is a minimum requirement of hours each Candidate must dedicate to serving others, the Pentecost Project is designed to combat the terminology of “service hours” that has become so pervasive in our secular and Catholic culture – language that risks communicating to young people that service is a finite number to be achieved rather than a life of faith to be lived. Instead of the language of modern metrics, we want our youth to understand Jesus’ language of discipleship.
For it was at Pentecost that the disciples received the Holy Spirit to help them overcome their fears and fulfill the mission Jesus gave them: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). In the sacrament of Confirmation, the gifts of the Holy Spirit received at Baptism are strengthened to help each of us spread the Good News to our world today.
What does that mean for teens and adults alike? Pope Francis summarizes it beautifully: “When we welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts and allow him to act, Christ makes himself present in us and takes shape in our lives; through us, it will be he — Christ himself — who prays, forgives, gives hope and consolation, serves the brethren, draws close to the needy and to the least, creates community and sows peace” (General Audience, January 29, 2014).
Just as the disciples were literally inspired – filled with the Spirit – to go out and be Christ for others, our Confirmation Candidates have been inspired to be Jesus’ hands and feet in their families, their parish, and their community. We thank them, in turn, for inspiring us through their witness!
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