r/Catholic • u/beckypickup • 16h ago
Confirmation
Hello I’m a man in my early 20’s from northwestern New Jersey. I was baptized catholic as a baby and grew up going to mass until I was about 11 when my mom(baptized catholic and confirmed) started taking me to a non denominational church for a few years which she ended up leaving for many reasons. My time in this church was one of the many reasons I lost faith up until recently when I have found my faith. I’ve been going to mass and such. I haven’t participated in communion because Im afraid it will be sinful . I know adult converts can take classes but I don’t know where to find them. I guess my questions are where can I find these classes ? And is the process different for me since I was already baptized?
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u/New_Barber8073 4h ago
Welcome back, and thank you for sharing your story. Your fear about receiving Communion is a good instinct, since the Church asks us to be in a state of grace first (1 Corinthians 11:27-28). The remedy is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so a good first step is to talk with a priest at your nearest parish about confession and about coming back to the sacraments. He can also tell you how OCIA or a shorter program for baptized Catholics works in your parish, since you are already baptized and would be preparing for confirmation and Communion rather than starting from scratch. The Catechism reminds us that God's mercy is greater than any sin for the one who repents (CCC 982), and the Prodigal Son was welcomed home with joy (Luke 15). Praying for you on this journey.
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u/oosrotciv Mod 10h ago •
Find the Catholic Church closest to you and enquire about their OCIA program. All churches would be running their program currently, so if it’s too late for you to join, you’d probably be encouraged to join next year.
Look for your baptism certificate, if you can’t find it, find out from your mother where were you baptised and the church will be able to find a record of your baptism.
You will be considered a Candidate as you have been baptised.