First Holy Communion

A Grace-Filled moment for your family

Welcome! This is a huge year for your family as your child prepares to sacramentally receive the mercy of Christ in Confession and then the "source and summit" of the Christian faith, Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist. We are excited to journey with your family this year as your parish community.

A whole-family approach

Together with the ages old teaching of the Universal Church, we see parents as central to the formation of children in the Faith. In seeking to prepare our children for a lifetime of sacramental graces, we take seriously your role as parents in that process. In hopes of building up the strength of the "domestic church", or the church as it exists in our homes and "building block" of the larger Church, there are expectations for whole-family involvement. Studies are clear: whole families seeking to grow in faith and devotion together, even if in "fits and starts" and struggles, make a more profound impact on a child's faith development than any catechist/teacher. You might wonder, "OK that make sense, but how will this look in practice?"

FAMILY EXPECTATIONS:

• Daily Prayer: Each day, families pray together for 15 minutes. This practice seeks to take seriously the importance of cultivating our children's inner life of prayer and relationship with Our Lord. In the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, "For me, prayer is a burst from my heart, it is a simple glance thrown toward Heaven, a cry of thanksgiving and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy." Resources will be provided for various options that fit your family.
• Weekly Mass Attendance: The Eucharist, which your children are preparing for, is, in the words of the Catechism, "the source and summit of the faith." Participating in the celebration of the Eucharist on every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is a minimum expectation of all Catholics. While not an obligation until the age of reason (7-8 yrs old), this now is the year for your child to make it weekly to Mass as he or she prepares. We are blessed to have a parish community full of young families and parishioners who are accepting of young, squirmy and sometimes noisy Catholics still learning "the ropes". Resources will be provided to help your family to more fully and actively participate in the Sunday Mass and appreciate its significance and beauty.
• (Mostly) Weekly Classes: In person classes will be nearly every Sunday morning (or Tuesday after school; see schedule below).* We have discerned the need to return to more frequent in person classes during Sacramental Preparation years ONLY, given the amount of formation done in preparation for these important moments in your child's spiritual development.
• Three "Family Festivals": Bringing together parents and children to celebrate important moments in our Church's calendar and provide resources on how to engage more deeply with the liturgical seasons of our Church in our homes. This year we have All Saints, Lent and Easter festivals AND a Nativity Pageant on Christmas Eve.

For those looking into Sacramental Preparation for their children in the coming years, please consider that K and/or 1st Grade faith formation (at least a year) is important as a foundation before beginning.

*Because Tuesday group isn't influenced by holiday weekends, that group meets nearly every week.