Getting More Out of Your Child's First Communion by The Word Among Us

SOMETHING MORE FAMILY FAITH SERIES

GETTING MORE out of Your Child’s First Communion Sue Grenough Deacon Keith Strohm Mark Hart, Series Editor

Copyright © Sue Grenough and Keith Strohm All rights reserved. Published by The Word Among Us Press 7115 Guilford Drive, Suite 100 Frederick, Maryland 21704 23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 978-1-59325-102-4 Nihil Obstat: Msgr. Michael Morgan, J.D., J.C.L. Censor Librorum July 29, 2019 Imprimatur: +Most Rev. Felipe J. Estevez, S.T.D. Diocese of St. Augustine July 29, 2019 Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible can be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission. Design by Suzanne Earl No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotation in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the author and publisher. Made and printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS Introduction �� 4

How to Use This Booklet �� 7

SESSION ONE A New Beginning for a Lifetime �� 10

SESSION TWO Building Togetherness �� 16

SESSION THREE A Very Special Meal �� 23

SESSION FOUR Go Forth to Love and Serve the Lord �� 29

APPENDIX: Prayers �� 35

INTRODUCTION By Mark Hart Series Editor Not long ago I came across a box of old pictures and videos from my childhood while cleaning out a closet. I brought them into the family room to share them with my kids. They were fascinated that we used to have to print pictures (and not just have them scrolling on the screen). I explained what a negative was and how it was used to make photos, and then reminded them that phones used to be just that and not also cameras. They laughed at the home movies on VHS—after lamenting the excruciating wait of rewinding—and they couldn’t conceive why the old 8 mm footage that was transferred to VHS had no sound. As we continued to look at photos, they began to ask more and more questions about the past, about my childhood and members of the family they had seen in the videos, such as my grandparents. They were far more engaged than at any other moment I could remember when I’d attempted to tell them about their great-grandparents, my upbringing, or funny memories over meals or during a long car ride. Then it hit me. Seeing the faces of people they had heard about, like Grandpa or Uncle John, made all the difference. The shared experience increased their enthusiastic engagement and their neurons started to fire. Now that they saw the love of their grandmother as she held their dad as a baby, their own appreciation for both of us deepened. It wasn’t the music under the old home videos or the out-of-style outfits that held their attention but, rather, the entire experience. They knew facts about their great-grandfather, but when they saw their adolescent dad sitting on his lap, listening to a story and laughing, their own admiration for

him grew. They began to understand why I often still tear up when he is mentioned. The one who mattered so much to me began to matter to them. In a similar way, as a Catholic parent, you may (or may not) know all the facts that you want to pass on to your own children as they prepare for their First Communion. Perhaps you’re a theologian or master catechist and you can clearly and ably unpack the mystery of transubstantiation. Maybe you’ve heard talks or podcasts about the theology of the Mass. Or maybe you haven’t the faintest clue of how to explain something so vast and so incomprehensible as God humbling himself and making himself available under the gifts of bread and wine on that altar. Perhaps you deeply desire to share your thoughts and experience with your child but you feel overwhelmed in trying to articulate what you want your child to know. Just like with my kids and the family pictures and movies, it’s one thing to relay facts to your child, but when they are able to experience what is important to you, it begins to become important to them. Your child’s First Communion is one of the greatest gifts God can give them—his very self. Think about that for a moment. God doesn’t merely say, “I want to dwell before you in a tabernacle” but, rather, “I wish to dwell within you.” This is incredible to fathom. The God of love, forgiveness, peace, and joy, dwelling within us! In receiving Communion, your child consumes the very body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, and this divine life now nourishes him or her. This is how much God desires to be in relationship with your child—coming under the appearance of bread and wine to become an essential part of your child’s life! And what God has done for your child, he has also done for you! This time of sacramental preparation is not only an important time for your child but also an opportunity for you, as a son or daughter of God, to reflect on this great gift. On the pages that follow, Sue

Grenough and Deacon Keith Strohm will give you several insights that will prove invaluable as you take this journey with your child and together grow in your relationship with Jesus. Take the time to open your Bible together and to read the verses they share. Make it a point to get away from screens, to have meaningful conversations each week, and to pray together. Your children will be able to see in your own witness, your own reception of the Eucharist, and your own prayer after communion that you know Jesus is truly present in what looks like mere bread and wine. Help your children experience the Lord not only at Mass but in their interactions with you and your own ever-deepening Eucharistic spirituality. Our hope and prayer is that by doing so, your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Communion will become more than a onetime celebration and serve as the beginning of a lifelong journey into the heart of God for your child, for you, and for your family. God bless you on this journey!

How to Use This Booklet Whether used individually or in a small group, each session of Getting More Out of Your Child’s First Communion is designed to take less than an hour. The following tips will help you have a successful, fruitful experience.

As an Individual 1. Identify a time and place that will work consistently in your schedule. Move through the booklet at your own pace, allowing for reflection and application. 2. Begin with a prayer. Pray, “Come Holy Spirit” slowly several times. Sit quietly for a few moments of silence. Then say a prayer, such as the Our Father, the Hail Mary, or the Glory Be. 3. Before you begin the first session, watch the opening video at wau.org/familyfaith. 4. Read the Scripture passage slowly a couple of times, followed by the commentary. 5. Move on to the reflection questions, and prayerfully consider your responses. You might want to find someone to talk to about what you learned, or keep a journal with your notes and responses.

6. “As a Family” will give you helpful activities to do with your child and other family members during the week ahead. Make a commitment to doing one or both of the activities. 7. End with the prayer provided or your own prayer to the Lord about what you have just read. 8. During the week, use one of the prayers from the appendix or use your own words to compose a prayer. 9. After the last session, watch the closing video at wau.org/ familyfaith.

As a Small Group 1. Begin with a prayer. Pray, “Come Holy Spirit” slowly several times. Sit quietly for a few moments of silence. Then say a prayer together, such as the Our Father, the Hail Mary, or the Glory Be. 2. Before you begin the first session, watch the opening video at wau.org/familyfaith. 3. Invite one person to read the Scripture passage aloud that appears at the beginning of each session. 4. Assume everyone has read the commentary beforehand. The group facilitator could ask everyone if that is the case. If not, you might ask one or two people to try to summarize the main points of the commentary or to say what most struck them from reading it.

5. Begin discussing the questions, being careful not to rush to the next question, especially if not everyone has spoken. Some people need more time to gather their thoughts. People who tend to be quiet may need a moment of silence before they feel free to express themselves. 6. If the discussion strays, try to bring it back to the questions or text. Any member of the group should feel free to gently steer the discussion to the next point. 7. When you are finished with the questions, go over the “As a Family” section, and ask whether anyone has any questions about it. Encourage participants to do one or both of the suggested activities. 8. End with the Parent’s Prayer or one of the prayers from the appendix, or pray spontaneously. 9. After the last session, watch the closing video at wau.org/ familyfaith.

Get the most out of your booklet. Visit wau.org/familyfaith for a video introduction and conclusion by Mark Hart, Series Editor.

SESSION ONE

A NEW BEGINNING FOR A LIFETIME God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. (1 John 4:8-9)

Created for More Have you ever looked closely at a houseplant? As the earth makes its daily journey around our star and the sun’s rays enter a house from different angles and positions, a plant will bend toward the light, following its path throughout the day. Because light is the energy source for plant growth, plants have an incredible ability to position themselves to receive as much of it as they need. In other words, houseplants are created for the light, and their lives are oriented around this reality. We too are created for the light—for the light of God’s love, mercy, and grace—and he has called each of us into being because he desires to share the richness of his life with us. Our hearts are created to contain peace, joy, and a fulfillment that will never pass away. Think about that for a moment—you and your child have an identity, a purpose, and a destiny that come from God, who is perfect love. The world often tries to define you based upon what you can produce, how you look, your socioeconomic status, your job, what schools you

attended, and a host of other criteria, all of which are based upon things that will, ultimately, pass away. But you have a dignity and value that the world cannot touch because it doesn’t originate there but, rather, in the very love that God has for you. Jesus put it this way: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). As deeply as the Lord cares for all of his creation, humanity holds a special place in the heart of God. We are the only creatures God made in his image, and everything in creation exists to encourage our relationship with him and with each other. Consider the love you have for your children. When they were babies, you gazed upon them as they slept. As they grew older, you fed them and clothed them, changed their diapers and wiped their noses. Your love for them had nothing to do with how gifted they were or what they would accomplish in life, or how much they would honor you by their choices and actions! That outpouring of love that you experienced for your children existed simply because they are yours. And so it is with God, from whom the love of a parent flows. God loves us simply because we are his. God’s love, therefore, isn’t conditional upon our own goodness, our ability to make correct choices, or our discipline in following a set of rules. His love isn’t grounded in what we do, but in who we are. No matter the history of your own heart, the legacy of the choices you have made, the experiences you’ve had, or what has been done to you—none of these can separate you from the love you were created for. God made you and fashioned you for a relationship, and he calls you to himself. If you find yourself restless, experiencing a kind of discontent of the heart, dissatisfied with something that you find difficult to name—or if there is a deep longing within you for peace, fulfillment, and acceptance,

know that all these things are hungers that arise from who you were created to be. They were placed there by God himself, for us to orient our lives around him (like the houseplant in our example above). Consequently, if we do Your love for them had not encounter the love of nothing to do with how gifted God in a way that we can they were or what they would respond to, we will try to satisfy these hungers with accomplish in life, or how something else, bending much they would honor you our own lives in directions by their choices and actions! that often take us further from him. Maybe you’ve been feeling that more acutely of late. Or perhaps you are responding to those hungers. The good news is that there is a way to experience the love for which you were created. Jesus, who makes himself present in his Body and Blood at Mass, can satisfy every hunger and desire of your heart. As you prepare your child for his or her First Communion, reflect on the reality that this sacrament comes to us in the form of food— bread and wine—in order to satisfy this deep hunger for God that our Creator placed within us. Ask yourself: have you ever been hungry but not known what to eat? A full meal? A sandwich? A piece of fruit? That tempting piece of cake? You know you want something, but sometimes your hunger—and how to satisfy it—isn’t easy to identify. Our hunger for God can be like that. We know we want something from life, and we might even sense that what we want is related to God; yet we pursue other ways to satisfy ourselves, such as accumulating material possessions or focusing on career goals. These only serve to distract us.

Living Thankfully When you help prepare your children to receive Holy Communion for the first time, you are fulfilling the promise you made at their Baptism to raise your children in the Catholic faith. You’re also preparing them to receive more deeply the very life that God pours out for them. In this way, they can grow in friendship with God and in union with his body, the Church. The event of your child’s First Communion is an opportunity for you too—a time to accept the life that Jesus offers you, a time to commit your own heart to God. Perhaps in the busyness of life it has been difficult to attend Mass regularly, or perhaps in handling the everyday concerns of family and work, your experience of receiving Communion has become routine. This special time in your family’s life can become the beginning of a journey closer to the heart and life of Jesus. Did you know that the word “Eucharist” has its roots in a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving”? The Mass is the ultimate prayer of thanksgiving that Jesus offers the Father and invites us to participate in. At each Mass, Jesus makes himself present, Body and Blood, and we remember with thanksgiving his death and resurrection. In the Gospels, we see that Jesus often gave thanks to his Father. If we want to cooperate with the very life that God has given us, we are invited to be thankful. Everything that we experience and possess that is good comes to us as a gift from God. Therefore we can acknowledge the good things we have received from God and offer him our heartfelt thanks. One way to do this is at Mass. When the priest says, “Blessed are you, God of all creation, for through your goodness . . .” lift up those things for which you are thankful. Invite your family members to do the same. This will also heighten your family’s thankfulness for the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist.

For Your Reflection • How does the imagery of the houseplant help you understand the relationship God wants with you? How has your “orientation” to God ebbed or flowed over the years? • Take a few moments to recall the blessings in your life. How can you grow in gratitude?

As a Family (Pick one or do both!) • As a family, carve out some time during the week, perhaps before family meals or at the end of the day, and have all family members make lists of what they are thankful for. Each family member can then offer God thanks in their own words. Taking the time throughout the week to draw attention to what we are grateful for enables us to bring that same outlook of thanksgiving to Mass on Sunday. • Take a few minutes to recall favorite moments from your own First Communion. Were there any thoughts, feelings, or blessings that have helped shape your appreciation for this sacrament? Are there any memories you would like your child to have?

Parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer Come, Lord Jesus! Fill my heart with the assurance of your unending love for me. Help me to find satisfaction in you and to live in thankfulness for all your blessings. Guide my family and me to a deeper encounter with you, especially in the Eucharist. Amen. Choose a one-line prayer from the appendix to recite daily throughout the week, or compose one of your own.

About the Authors SUE GRENOUGH has worked tirelessly in the field of catechesis for many years. As a religious educator, she has served in parish, school, and diocesan roles. She was host and president of the National Conference for Catechetical Leaders (NCCL). She currently facilitates classes for The Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation, University of Dayton. She provides workshops on a variety of faith topics around the country. DEACON KEITH STROHM is the former director of the Office for the New Evangelization and a deacon for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is the executive director of M3 Ministries and a longtime teacher and collaborator with the Catherine of Siena Institute. MARK HART is the executive vice president of Life Teen International, a bestselling author, and a popular speaker. He is also the host of the weekly audio podcast, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, and series editor of the Something More Faith Series.

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