Celebrating First Holy Communion: Sacrament Draws Young Parishioners Closer to Christ

The Sacrament of First Holy Communion is a special milestone that our second-graders were blessed to receive on April 24. After months of diligent preparation, the children were excited to faithfully receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time. The parents and catechists who helped prepare them for this sacrament had a great responsibility as well as a unique window into the children’s faith. In our parish, we have several First Communion classes — some second-grade children attended on Sunday morning while older children attended a class on Wednesday evening. The school children had their classes during the school day and were taught by Yvonne Evans, who has been preparing children for their First Communion for 56 years.

“This is not just a school project or a Sunday morning project,” Yvonne says. “This is preparing the children for the rest of their lives. This takes help from the parents as well.”

Yvonne started by preparing the children for their First Reconciliation.

“I love for the children to realize that when they do things wrong, we forgive them and their parents forgive them,” Yvonne says. “Certainly, Jesus forgives them and He doesn’t remember what they did wrong after He has forgiven them. They’re excited to go to reconciliation.”

Parents had a major role in helping their children prepare for First Communion. Yvonne sent home letters to the parents explaining what their children were learning and how they could help them prepare, as well as some take-home activities that they could do with their child.

“Sometimes parents will come back and say that it has awakened their faith,” Yvonne says. “Children do that to us — they bring us to prayer.”

Yvonne also encouraged the children to send a letter to their godparents, asking them to pray for them as they prepare for their First Communion. She had them act out stories from the Gospels, bringing the stories of Jesus to life for them. The children also studied the parts of the Mass. As Easter approached, Yvonne planned a Holy Thursday service for the school children and the second-graders had a special role as they participated in the service. The children also had a retreat on the day before they made their First Communion, bringing together all that they had learned and highlighting the importance of this beautiful sacrament that will nourish their souls for years to come.

Yvonne sees this time with the children as a gift that has strengthened her own faith. Each year, she is struck anew by the innocence and faith that the children have and the great trust that they bring to their prayer. Although she teaches them for a short time, she always remembers her students in her prayers.

“I tell them that this is not just for now, but for the rest of their lives,” Yvonne says. “I tell them that I will pray for them every day as long as I live, that they will continue to want to come to church and that when they get big, they’ll bring their family to church. I hope that we’ll always meet at Mass — it’s truly a celebration.”