In celebration of youngsters receiving their First Holy Communion in parishes across the Diocese, The Monitor invited two of its freelance correspondents, EmmaLee Italia and Rose O’Connor, to share their firsthand accounts of their children being welcomed to the Lord’s table.

Both families spend a large portion of their lives involved in the Church – as Catholic educators, lay ecclesial ministers, music ministers and various other activities. Following are EmmaLee’s and Rose’s loving reflections on witnessing their children taking an important step in their young spiritual faith journeys.

Journey of a thousand miles

By EmmaLee Italia | Correspondent

Witnessing your children receive a Sacrament that you received yourself many decades prior is like spiritual time travel.

Watching my daughter Elizabeth three years ago, and this year my son, Thomas, receive their first Holy Communion transported me to my first Eucharistic encounter.

I remember feeling excited and nervous, and I wondered if Thomas was feeling the same. Did he make the connection to what he was about to receive and the extraordinary graces in store? Or was it just a day to be in the spotlight, with a party to follow?

We’ve teased him about the time during Mass when he was 3, when following a lengthy pew discussion about the Consecration, he intoned with the ringing bells, “It’s turning into Blood!”

It was difficult to stem my emotions as I watched Thomas process into the church, carefully keeping the pace slow and reverent with a bashful smile.

As an adult, I can’t fully comprehend the Mystery of the Eucharist after 32 years of receiving it. So my immediate assumption is that Thomas can’t appreciate the depth of the occasion.

But as a child, perhaps his innocence and unadulterated worldview  allow the Eucharist to take root in his little soul in a way that my willful and stubborn spirit resists. It’s the difference between planting a seed in freshly tilled and composted soil, versus a patch of compacted clay.

 While I realize that attending Mass and Catholic school will encourage his spiritual growth, those won’t necessarily be enough to compete with secular culture. The grace of the Eucharist is essential to feed him spiritually for his relationship with Christ to deepen.

On Sunday morning I could see a spark of something new in Thomas. For him, the relevance of the Mass was now tangible; he could participate with the body of the Church without exclusion.

Though the eschatological understanding will take time to develop, it is deeply rewarding as a parent to witness my child at the beginning of the journey. I trust that with the Sacraments, prayers and support of his Church family, my son’s spiritual voyage will lead him to his ultimate destination.

EmmaLee Italia is a freelance writer for The Monitor and a member of St. Paul Parish, Princeton.

Understanding the depth of God’s love

By Rose O’Connor | Correspondent

For many years, I would tell my daughters, “OK, you can go and sit down now,” as my husband and I rose from the kneelers to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

As I delivered my familiar line during Mass April 23 to my two girls, Mary Kate, 8, looked at me and said, “That’s the last time you’ll have to say that to me, Mom.”

She was correct. The following Sunday, she would be able to receive Communion with her father and I, having received her First Holy Communion the day before with the children in St. Mary Parish, Bordentown.

As an educator in a Catholic school, I knew she was prepared to receive the Sacrament. Mary Kate is a second-grade student in Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton, and has attended the school since Pre-K. She has also attended parish retreats at St. Mary and knew all the answers to the questions she was asked on the Sacrament.

On April 1, Mary Kate made a countdown, crossing off numbers that led to “the big day.” She already had her dress, a family dress worn by her cousin, and her newly purchased veil hung in her room. She practiced the petition she was going to read during the Prayer of the Faithful, and we reviewed how to receive the Body of Christ with reverence and respect. She was ready, but I just hoped she “got it” – that she understood what she was about to receive.

On her First Communion Day, Mary Kate said she was excited to see her grandparents and family, go to the restaurant after and receive her gifts – and then she added, “I get to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, Mom. It shows me how much Jesus loves me.”

She got it.

As my husband walked with Mary Kate as she received First Holy Communion, I exchanged a glance with the coordinator of religious education, a look that moms share when something special happens for the children.

She got it. She understood how I felt. How proud I was. How happy I was that Mary Kate would be receiving Jesus in the Eucharist and encountering Christ in this new and holy way.

As special as her First Holy Communion was, it was the next day, when I didn’t have to ask Mary Kate to sit down at Communion during Sunday Mass – when she rose with her father and I to receive the Eucharist – that the enormity of the Sacrament truly affected me. There was no white dress, fancy hairdo or veil – just Mary Kate receiving Jesus, our Lord and Savior in the Eucharist. It was just as special, beautiful and momentous as it had been the day before.

Rose O’Connor is a freelance writer for The Monitor and a member of  St. Mary Parish, Bordentown.