The Eucharist Encountering Jesus

Reflections for Parents of Children Preparing for First Eucharist

Maureen S. Hagan Deacon Charles Paolino

The scripture passages contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any way, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted without the written permission of RENEW International.

RENEW International gratefully acknowledges contributions to this book by Maureen S. Hagan, who wrote the original text, and Alice Hugh Brown, who provided valuable advice during the preparation of this edition.

NIHIL OBSTAT

Dianne Traflet, J.D., S.T.D Censor librorum

IMPRIMATUR

Joseph W. Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R. Archbishop of Newark

Cover and interior design by Clara Baumann

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In a homily at a first Communion Mass, I used as a prop a large tin full of Crayola crayons that I had bought at the Binney & Smith manufacturing plant in Easton, Pennsylvania. I had bought the crayons about 15 years before, and it had remained in my bedroom closet, still in its shrink wrap, ever since.

I told the children that those crayons were useless as long as they were closed up in that tin, just as our hearts are useless if we don’t open them up to others, as Jesus did when he died on the cross and still does when he offers himself in the Eucharist.

When you receive the Eucharist today and for the rest of your life, I said, don’t keep God’s grace closed up inside you. Rather, take it with you from this church and share it with whomever you meet, loving them as Jesus loves you.

This time, when your children are preparing to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, is an opportunity for you to revisit your own experience with the sacrament what it has meant to you, what it can mean to your family, and what it means to your relationship with the world outside the parish and outside your home.

This is an opportunity to refresh your faith in Christ and his Church and to share that faith with your children. By the way you approach the sacrament, you can help them to always be aware that Christ is truly present in his Body and Blood and truly accompanies us as both Lord and companion. And you can help them apply to their everyday lives what they have learned in faith formation.

“Communion.” The word implies sharing, oneness, collaboration. For each of us, communion is an intimate personal encounter with Christ, but it is also a call to generosity of heart, to giving ourselves as Christ gave himself, to embracing all humanity as brothers and sisters made in the image of God.

No doubt, your children will continue their religious education and will eventually receive the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation, but it is you, not their catechists, who are with them every day. We offer these sessions to help you deepen your faith and your commitment to charity and justice so that by word and example you can encourage those values in your children.

Deacon Charles Paolino