Celebrating the Holy Spirit, Father Lambert Nieme, and Confirmation

On this solemn feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives and in communities of faith, the birthday of the Church, and our call to live the gifts of the Holy Spirit granted to us in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The homilies this weekend will speak more about the Holy Spirit in our lives, so here I will focus on upcoming changes with Confirmation, and on Father Lambert, for whom the Holy Spirit is such an important part of his spirituality and ministry.

By God’s grace, this year Pentecost falls near the end of May and is a fitting way to celebrate Father Lambert Nieme’s five years with our parishes. From his first Masses with us, Fr. Lambert has been a powerful inspiration and challenge for us to raise the bar in our worship, joy, and enthusiasm in our faith! We have all learned a lot from Fr. Lambert – myself included – and I am grateful to have had him as a housemate, especially during the pandemic. At his arrival, he quickly began the first of several Bible study programs he offered over the years, helped to get our Masses online from the first weekend of pandemic cancellation of public worship, and was a driving force in restoring public worship as early as possible. Fr. Lambert officially starts his new assignment on June 1 at Divine Mercy Parish in Quincy, which is a recent merger of three parishes (Sacred Heart, St. Mary, and St. Ann), and they still use all three churches so he will be busy! For our parishioners who may wish to visit him, thankfully Quincy is a relatively short drive compared with other parts of our archdiocese. While we had started plans for appreciation socials in his honor, Father Lambert has requested that we not have any receptions – he wants these last Masses in our collaborative to be his celebration.

In addition to preparing for our next priest, Father Patrick Chibuko, we are also actively preparing to implement the gradual change in the normal Confirmation age which Cardinal Sean O’Malley has prescribed for our archdiocese, from tenth grade to eighth grade (roughly age 16 to age 14). He made this decision only after extensive consultation with both ordained and lay ministers, educators, and parents. The hope is that this change will meet with the reality of family life (which is much busier in high school), aide our efforts in evangelizing youth and families, and result in more youth receiving this powerful sacrament of God’s grace. Rest assured our parishes and the wider Church will be renewing and expanding our outreach and ministry with high school youth in ways such as youth activities, Christian service, and teen ministries (music ministry, teaching younger kids, etc.). Like with any change, there will be challenges and some initial confusion, but we have found that most parents have been welcoming of this change once it is explained to them. Confirmation preparation in our parishes will remain a two-year program, so youth presently in grades 7 and up will not be confirmed in eighth grade since they still need two more years to prepare. Cardinal Sean is allowing a three-year transition period, and our tentative plan should have us completing the process earlier than that. While three class-years will begin “Confirmation 1” this fall, we will continue to keep middle-school kids and high school teens in separate classes. Now that faith formation registration is complete, parents will be informed about more details in the coming months as they become available.

Please pray for Father Lambert and our incoming priest, Father Patrick Chibuko, our Confirmation families, staff and volunteer catechists, and our collaborative parishes – and me! - in this time of transitions, as I know you will.