SACRAMENTS MATTER TO YOUNG PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY CONFESSION.

“If I could shout it from the rooftops, I would tell every Catholic high school to have confession available every week,” said Kiefer, after looking at the feedback from the SVP

“The weight of students’ worlds are so heavy. They carry around shame, regret, and unworthiness. The sacrament of Reconciliation is a chance to talk that out and then feel a sacramental grace of forgiveness,” said Kiefer, a longtime religious education instructor and author of the children’s book Drawing God.

Wieboldt added that sacramentality whether connected to Confirmation, first Communion, or otherwise—was often cited by students as their best experiences with the Church. “Even among first-year high school students,” Wieboldt noted, “something about the mystery of the sacraments attracted young people’s attention.”

“We are a sacramental Church,” added Kiefer “These students are finding God in the importance of faith in the sacraments ”

In the Christian Brothers school network, students at 6 of 7 schools identified sacraments as the “best experience with the Church” most frequently.