Confirmation Mass

Mass of Confirmation 2 – GROW

Does anybody here play any sports? Any sport for which they require a Coach? What is the purpose of this Coach? I think that we all understand that it is to help us to be better at that sport than we are when we start out.

This Coach shows us how to do things. They ask us to show him or her what we already know, our levels of skills and understandings. Then they work with us to build up our skills. But they don’t just work on our strengths to make them even better, they work on our weaknesses too and if they are really good and focused, they use our strengths to improve our weaknesses.

So why am I talking about Coaching, here at the Mass of Confirmation? Well, because this is where you are starting out. You are new young adults who have been given the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit and now need to consider what to do with them. You need to consider how, where, when you can use these gifts to the best of your abilities.

And there are a couple of Coaching tools that you can use or consider in this. It might help you in your actions and decisions. The first tool is called GROW. Each letter stands for a word.

G is for Goals. You need to consider what Goals you want to set for yourself and for others. But remember it is you that is being Coached and not anyone else so these Goals are yours. If you are looking for change then it is the mirror that you need to look into first and foremost. What are your Goals as a new young Christian adult? What is it you want to do more of; to be more involved in? What challenges or changes do you want to make or to see within your church or church-community and what changes do you need to make with yourself to help bring these about? Who do you need to include in your planning and considerations?

R is for Reality. You need to consider what your real-life situation is. You need to be able to picture where you are at now and what time and resources you have available to you that will help you in achieving your Goals. What is your Reality?

O is for Opportunities. You need to identify and recognise what the options are that are available to you; what opportunities are there for you get involved, to encourage others, to begin to affect the changes that you think are needed. This may be getting involved in a young SVP group or simply turning up for mass and volunteering to help out in some way. By helping others you can show how attractive, informative and supportive the church can be. It may be that you can play an instrument or can sing a bit. You need to identify what the opportunities are and where they are at.

And W stands for What Will you do? The What and the Will are down to you. These are the actions that you are going to take, that you are committed to delivering through applying your will. This is your Action Plan on what you are going to do; When you are going to do it; Who will you involve and What stepped results are you going to see along the way that will show your progress toward full achievement.

If we think about the Holy Spirit as our faith-Coach, then we can ask him to work with us to make full use of the skills and the graces that he gives us today at our Confirmation. We can open up to him and maximise the benefits of these gifts and graces through a deliberate and planned involvement.

We will not simply say Thank you and then walk away and file these graces and gifts along with our Certificate in the bottom drawer somewhere, never to see the light of day again. No! We will seek to make immediate and best use of these gifts by looking at each one and considering whether they are strengths that we already have or areas of weakness that need to be developed. And then we can plan how we are going to use our areas of strength to develop and strengthen or broaden our areas of weakness.

This brings us to our second tool which is called SWOT. Again, each letter stands for a word.

S is for Strength. We need to know what our existing areas of strength are. It may be that we are good with people. That we can mix with others and make them feel comfortable in our presence. It may be that we are good organisers, we can get people involved and work toward agreed aims and objectives. And then we need to compare our existing strengths to those gifts and graces we receive at Confirmation and see where they slot together; where they can support each other. Or don’t

W is for Weaknesses. This comparison and consideration will help us to identify where we are weak. Where we need to develop or extend ourselves. This may be our management  or use of time or it may show that we are less comfortable in groups or crowds. Or it may simply identify that we don’t know enough about the issues and concerns of our parish community.

O is again for Opportunities and like in the first Tool or Model, this is about identifying the options that are available to you to get involved, to challenge what you see or hear or feel with the aim of making changes. What is going on in your school or workplace that you can affect now in some way or other?

And T stands for Threat. These are things that are going to get in your way and stop or hinder your progress. And this might again be Time or your own Will. Your strength of purpose to drive through to the targets you have set yourself.

Our Coach is the Holy Spirit. He is there every minute of every day and can see and hear and feel what we are going through. He is there to encourage us to be the best that we can be: To be the best version of us that we can be – with his help, his guidance, his strength and his direction.

If you are unsure what to do next, then maybe think on using these two tools as a way of starting your planned Coaching Action Plan. It can give you the direction that may feel you need now at the start of this part of your journey. It can give you the sense of control and drive that you need to begin this next portion of your lives.

You can GROW if you SWOT with the Holy Spirit.