First Communion

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday we celebrate First Communion for 23 children of our parish at the 11:00am Mass. They have been preparing for this day for several months and finally their Eucharistic day has come. Just a few short weeks ago we welcomed 17 adults into our parish family. At the Eucharistic banquet there is room for all and we gladly welcome these new participants to the table.

As we participate and pray with the new comers, maybe we could take a few moments to remember that day when we were welcomed to the table of the Lord. I was the age of these children today, that day many years ago in my home town parish of St. Colette, when I made my First Communion. I remember that there were close to fifty of us and we were all dressed in white – the girls in dresses and the boys with red ties. We were cleaned up and proud as we walked up the center aisle. I don’t recall now, much of what happened that day, but do remember how close I felt to God and how much Jesus loved me. I have felt that same way on a few occasions in my life: when I was confirmed; when I made my vows as a Redemptorist; and when I was ordained; and at my father’s funeral mass. On those special days, I felt alive in Christ love and protected in his embrace. I sensed that Jesus was with me in his totality and all things were possible. I felt special and I knew that I was loved by God.

Hopefully, all of you have similar remembrances and look back to your First Communion day as one of the greatest days of your lives. Hopefully, that same experience of God’s love and oneness in Christ still fills your heart every time you receive the Eucharist. And hopefully, for these children today the memory lingers forever and ever.

God loves us all and may all of us have a great Eucharistic Day!

Fr. Andy