By James Tarbox

“We think that it must have been much easier for the apostles, those who walked and talked with Jesus, to believe and to understand what he was all about; but we know from the scriptures that it was not.”

Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan’s homily had special meaning for the members of the congregation of Our Lady of LaSalette Catholic Church in Canton. Nestled in the woods, off the main highway, Our Lady of LaSalette is a congregation that is very similar to the Christian communities in the days of the apostles. Small in number, the members of the Catholic community of Canton, Georgia rely on each other for support in a very special way. They, perhaps more than those in larger metro parishes, rely on the Spirit to unite them with the universal Church; a church that, because of the distances involved, sometimes must feel very far away. Last week, on the Friday before Pentecost, the Spirit was made present to the Catholics of Our Lady of LaSalette, in a very special way; Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan came to Canton to administer the sacrament of Confirmation.

“This was the first time that the sacrament of Confirmation has been administered in this building, the very first time,” said Sister Kate Regan, one of the members of the pastoral team at Our Lady of LaSalette. “We’re almost ready to move up to parish status, but not quite yet. It would mean so much to the people here to achieve that, to be a full fledged parish.”

It’s difficult to be a Catholic in Canton. The current church has only been standing for three years, and the eleven children who were confirmed last week made up the largest class of confirmation candidates that the church has had.

“Always in the past we would go into Cartersville, and have the ceremonies over there,” Sister Kate explained. “This night though was a real coming of age for the people and the church here, a real high water mark for all of us.”

Throughout the history of the Church, it has been possible for Catholics to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation only once in their life. The old religious texts used to say that the sacrament left an “indelible imprint” on the soul of the person confirmed.

Now the Church speaks of this indelible imprint in terms of the renewing, strengthening, refreshing, presence of the Holy Spirit within the soul of the person receiving the sacrament.

On a warm late spring night in north Georgia, it’s easy to speak of renewal and refreshment, for the Spirit seems quite near. However, it is the future, the many years down the road that Confirmation looks to.

“We’ve been preparing since December for this evening,” said Sister Kate. “We wanted to make sure that the kids had a good strong understanding of the sacrament tonight, when they received it, and in the years ahead so that they will grow in the ways that we all hope they will.”

The entire preparation started for the Canton candidates with a Day of Awakening. The express purpose of the meeting was to have the children try and discover where Christ was in their lives.

“We spent an awful lot of time in prayer and reflection,” said Michelle Madden, one of the girls confirmed. “We all were told that we should try and see where we could be more responsible, where we could accept more responsibility in our lives as Christians.”

“We really tried to stress the responsibility that every Christian has in terms of social awareness,” said Sister Kate. Towards this end, every candidate chose a particular service project to complete prior to the evening of Confirmation.

“We tried to let the candidates choose what they would be doing in terms of Christian service,” explained sister Kate. “Some went into hospitals and nursing homes, one of the fellows coached a Little League team. They all came away from their project with a greater sense of what it means to love their neighbor. We tried to emphasize that Christian service can be expressed in small ways, not just in the big dramatic gesture that everyone sees.”

During the entire time of preparation, Canton’s confirmation candidates were bolstered by the faith of their small Christian community.

“We’re made up of about 75 to 80 families,” Sister Kate said, “and we tried to emphasize to the candidates that, though they were the ones receiving the sacrament, all the members of Our Lady of LaSalette were involved in their reception of it.”

To strengthen the bonds of community, four special liturgies were scheduled during the time of preparation. These liturgies were held at various times during the preparation and emphasized different aspects of the growth of a Christian. In addition to the special Masses, the members of the congregation held frequent prayer services for, and with, the eleven young people in an effort to bolster their journey towards the sacrament.

As the confirmation date drew near, the scope of the preparation was expanded. A visit to the Cathedral – where one young man who made the trip said, “We all really enjoyed that rock Mass,” and a meeting with the archbishop all were designed to develop a sense of “church.”

“Sometimes the people, particularly the young here, feel a real sense of isolation from the rest of the Church,” Sister Kate said. “Being so small and being so far up here in the woods leads people to lose sight sometimes that they are a part of a greater whole; a very important part.”

“You are called to be disciples, apostles, and witnesses,” Archbishop Donnellan told the young candidates in his homily, “you must carry on life; you must cooperate with the Spirit.”

The promises of the Spirit are difficult to live out. All the weeks of preparation are like a drop in the bucket when it comes to the lifelong commitment that Christians are obliged to make.

“We’re more adult now,” said Jim Geeslin, one of the young men confirmed, “people can expect more out of us and we can expect more out of ourselves.”

In a town like Canton, kids have a hard time being Catholic. “When I first moved here, people told me that only Baptists could go to heaven,” said Chris Murphy, a 14-year-old who was born in California.

Now that Chris has been confirmed though the road should be easier.

“I think that it will be easier to explain our faith to people now that we’ve all been confirmed,” said Chris.

“We’re trying to be a real presence here in the community,” Sister Kate said, “with this confirmation, we’ve taken the first step towards that goal.”

On a warm spring night in the hills of north Georgia eleven young people were confirmed. Eleven new “mature Christians” were initiated into the Church. The Spirit, we have been told, is always with us, last week in North Georgia his presence was very real.