eucharist

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First communion is a milestone in the life of a child; when they partake, for the first time, in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Eucharist comes from the Greekeucharistia, meaning thanksgiving. Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the People of God, began building a church, they were sustained with the spiritual food in times of trials and in time of celebration. Eucharist is that food, the real presence of the risen Lord. The Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Church, rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”The Eucharist is, for Catholics, both a meal and a sacrifice. The Lord gave us the Eucharist at the Last Supper because he wanted us to share in the life of the Trinity, the loving communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We become united to God at our baptism, and receive a further outpouring of the Holy Spirit at our confirmation. In the Eucharist we are nourished spiritually, brought closer to God, again and again: “By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity,” write the bishops. They remind us of the words of Jesus in John’s Gospel: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56).

The First Eucharist for our children also has meaning for the whole community. We smile at the children in their first Communion finery-not just because they look cute, but because they are joining us at our family table, the table of God’s family.

Our school and our religious education classes celebrate their First Holy Communion the first weekend in May.