Last year, my two younger children were able to have their First Holy Communion. It was an answered prayer after being on lockdown and quarantine for years, Catholic families like us, looked forward to these events. This year, this summer, our eldest had the opportunity to receive his fourth sacrament: the Sacrament of Confirmation.

I’m grateful that there was a batch scheduled for Confirmation in our parish this summer. I first heard about it during the announcements toward the end of the Sunday Masses. I inquired about it right away. I was already thinking about it last year. But I wanted to make sure first that his younger brothers receive their First Holy Communion so that all of us in the family can already receive Jesus in the Mass/Holy Eucharist. That prayer has been answered last year and that dream has been fulfilled.

I learned that there will be catechism classes for our eldest for three consecutive Sundays. These were during the month of April. He attended 1.5-2 hours of catechism every Sunday morning at 8 AM.

Before submitting my eldest son’s requirements, I asked him first if he wants to be confirmed in our Catholic faith. I’m so happy and thankful that he said yes and he was excited about it.

We prepared and submitted the requirements. We also attended a meeting/orientation with our Parish Priest prior to the event to help prepare the Confirmants for what will happen during the ceremony.

Days before his Confirmation also, we bought our eldest son a new pair of black pants and a white long-sleeved polo. He quickly outgrew the last one we bought. He grows tall quickly. His arms and legs are so long. Fortunately, he now has the same shoe size as his Dad. So, he just borrowed his Dad’s black shoes so we could save money since he hardly wears black shoes because we homeschool. He also borrowed one of his Dad’s red ties.

We went to Confession as a family a week before our eldest son’s Confirmation at Greenbelt Chapel. Then, the day before his Confirmation, he also went to Confession with our Parish Priest.

Then, on April 29, my eldest son, together with other high school students and some adults, received the Sacrament of Confirmation from our Bishop, His Excellency Bishop Jesse Mercado.

There were 80 of them. Most of the Confirmants were students of Ville Saint John, a Catholic school in our village. The rest were children from other schools and adults who were preparing for marriage as well.

There was a Mass first at 1 PM presided by our Parish Priest.

Then, after the Mass, Bishop Jesse arrived to proceed with the ceremony.

Since there were so many of them and Bishop Jesse is already old and gets tired easily, Bishop Jesse authorized our Parish Priest, Monsignor Melchor David, to help him Confirm the other Confirmants.

The Mass and Confirmation ceremony was long because of the number of participants. It was hot inside our air-conditioned church for it was full of people! Aside from the Confirmants, there were parents, family members, godparents/ninongs and ninangs, church servants, etc. But we were happy to endure these to witness this milestone in our eldest son’s life as a Catholic.

We believe in faith that our eldest son received the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit during his Confirmation. Our prayer is that he would cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to lead him and transform him. We pray that with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he would grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. That God’s counsel and Mama Mary’s counsel would be upon him always and help him walk on the right path. We pray that he would have a holy fear of God and choose to be pious. Lastly, we pray that he would have fortitude when facing challenges.

I’m also thankful that we got to take photos of this event before, during, and after. It was a once-in-a-lifetime milestone and wanted to make sure that we have photos to remember it with.

As a Catholic parent, it is my husband’s and I’s joy to see our children receive the sacraments.

We had an early dinner at a nearby Shakey’s branch afterward with our eldest son’s godparents and their daughter. We also bought cakes for dessert on our way home as part of our celebration.

Then, we capped the day by watching a movie as a family.

It was one glorious and joyful day, indeed! Our eldest son’s Confirmation added to our joy this Easter season.

I hope and pray that next year, our second/middle child would be able to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation also during our parish fiesta celebration just like his older brother.