Children Of Our Parish And School Receive The Graces Of First Holy Communion

Over the past year, 43 children from both the parish and school have been eagerly preparing to receive their First Holy Communion. Although sacramental preparation has been different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parish has nonetheless worked hard along with parents to prepare their children for the next step in their faith journey.

The parish school has continued to provide sacramental preparation for school students, as usual. For the parish Faith Formation program, some changes have needed to be implemented. In nonpandemic times, the parish uses the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd method — or CGS — for faith formation, a catechetical program for children aged 3-12 based on the principles of Montessori education.

“With CGS, the focal point is that the children encounter and have a relationship with a loving Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd,” says Elizabeth Lyons, Steward for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Sacramental Preparation. “The foundation of CGS is Scripture and the Liturgy, and everything they do is oriented to those two things, so everything they learn automatically prepares them for the sacraments. It’s hands-on, and the children are really able to ponder, reflect and develop their own understanding of the faith. This way, they can internalize it and make it their own.

“One of the things that makes CGS unique is the designated space for this ministry called the atrium,” she adds. “The spaces are quite extraordinary, and everything is at the child’s level. We have three levels of CGS and an atrium for each one. Level I is for the 3 to 5-year-old child, Level II is for the 6 to 9-year-old child, and Level III is for the 9 to 12-year-old child.”

While the parish was still able to have CGS for a very small number of students, faith formation this year primarily took place virtually.

“We used an online program called Signs of Grace, and parents would do that at home with their children,” Elizabeth says. “The focus is on things like the Mass, the history of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist, how the sacraments work, and what they mean. It’s been an unusual year, but it’s good that we’ve come to value the Eucharist a bit more. Our hope for the children is that they discover that the Eucharist is the greatest gift they can receive and that they have a desire to come back and receive Jesus in the Eucharist each week.”

An unexpected blessing from the online program was that it allowed parents to step into a larger role in their child’s faith formation.

“With this year, the grace has been that parents had to take initiative and do the work,” Elizabeth says. “We could monitor their progress online, but it was really their work and a huge thing for them to take on. So that was a big change, but many of the parents said they liked the online program and learned along with their child. Now more than ever, our parents have really taken on their role as the domestic Church, and it’s been really neat to see them doing that.”

Another highlight from the year is that the students were still able to attend retreats for sacramental preparation. The retreats were smaller and shorter than usual, but this allowed the children to be able to participate in this special tradition.

“At the retreats, we do a meditation and a presentation,” Elizabeth says. “This year, the focus was on Jesus the Good Shepherd and the Eucharistic presence. The children spent time doing work around these themes. They might copy a Scripture passage, work with various materials, or make some art. This helps them to reflect on what they experienced and what it all means. We then made First Communion banners for their pews and ended with a prayer.”

The school children received their First Communion on Sunday, April 25, at the 9:30 a.m. Mass; the faith formation children received the sacrament on Saturday, May 15, and Sunday, May 16, with small groups of children receiving at each weekend Mass. Children were seated with their immediate families and up to two guests and followed the parish’s social distancing protocol.

Going forward, Elizabeth hopes that Catechesis of the Good Shepherd can take place in person for all students next year.

“We will still be doing masks and social distancing, but ideally we’ll be able to have the children in there every week,” she says. “We really hope that we can start again, and if our catechists are willing to return, we would love to be able to have regular sessions next year.”

If you would like more information about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd or sacramental preparation at the parish, please contact Elizabeth Lyons at elyons@saintmichaelparish.org or 360-292-7119.