John 6:51-58
Dear Friends, When I was pastor I soon came to see First Communion celebrations as deeply flawed with a lot more party and a lot less Jesus.
My response was to require the parents to participate in twelve faith assemblies. These are two hour sessions that include a basic presentation of salvation history from Abraham to Jesus. They are much more than simple Bible classes because there is an emphasis on seeing the Word of God intersecting the personal stories. There is much sharing of experience and time for reflection and prayer.
The end result is that the parents acquire a sense of personal power to be teachers of the faith with a grasp of Jesus’ fundamental call to conversion into God’s love.
Parents were invited to a deeper appreciation of Jesus and his gift to us. In his teachings, his healing ministry and his surrender to the Father’s will, Jesus opened a vision of a God both personal and involved with all people. In this journey parents were able to see the Eucharist as a great expression of God’s love in Christ Crucified and Christ Risen. This challenged parents to go beyond the superficial in their child’s First Communion.
Parents were encouraged to see the Eucharist as a real treasure of our faith. In this ritual we go beyond the symbol of bread and wine. This is the real presence of our saving Lord Jesus Christ coming to nurture and love us. His real presence is a call for us to caring, loving and giving to our brothers and sisters.
The goal was not just to help the parents prepare their children to understand what happens on that beautiful day of their First Communion. It was to convince the parents that this is the task of many years. Part of that task was their Family participation in the Liturgy on a regular basis. The Liturgy is truly an on-going adult school of religious education where the daily experience is connected to the saving act of Jesus here and now.
Unless the parents grasp the importance of the basic experience of regular participation in the Liturgy, First Communion celebrations have the real possibility of becoming distorted and inconsequential.
The real goal is faithful participation in the Church’s worship and praise. Regular Mass attendance brings us into the encounter with the great act of love that is the fundamental story of the Bible. That love literally takes the form of flesh and blood to nourish and guide us on the troubled journey that is our life. That is why the Church teaches us that the Liturgy is the source and summit of our faith. Liturgy helps us take the information about our faith and let it transform our heart where it draws us into an encounter with our loving God.
My response was to require the parents to participate in twelve faith assemblies. These are two hour sessions that include a basic presentation of salvation history from Abraham to Jesus. They are much more than simple Bible classes because there is an emphasis on seeing the Word of God intersecting the personal stories. There is much sharing of experience and time for reflection and prayer.
The end result is that the parents acquire a sense of personal power to be teachers of the faith with a grasp of Jesus’ fundamental call to conversion into God’s love.
Parents were invited to a deeper appreciation of Jesus and his gift to us. In his teachings, his healing ministry and his surrender to the Father’s will, Jesus opened a vision of a God both personal and involved with all people. In this journey parents were able to see the Eucharist as a great expression of God’s love in Christ Crucified and Christ Risen. This challenged parents to go beyond the superficial in their child’s First Communion.
Parents were encouraged to see the Eucharist as a real treasure of our faith. In this ritual we go beyond the symbol of bread and wine. This is the real presence of our saving Lord Jesus Christ coming to nurture and love us. His real presence is a call for us to caring, loving and giving to our brothers and sisters.
The goal was not just to help the parents prepare their children to understand what happens on that beautiful day of their First Communion. It was to convince the parents that this is the task of many years. Part of that task was their Family participation in the Liturgy on a regular basis. The Liturgy is truly an on-going adult school of religious education where the daily experience is connected to the saving act of Jesus here and now.
Unless the parents grasp the importance of the basic experience of regular participation in the Liturgy, First Communion celebrations have the real possibility of becoming distorted and inconsequential.
The real goal is faithful participation in the Church’s worship and praise. Regular Mass attendance brings us into the encounter with the great act of love that is the fundamental story of the Bible. That love literally takes the form of flesh and blood to nourish and guide us on the troubled journey that is our life. That is why the Church teaches us that the Liturgy is the source and summit of our faith. Liturgy helps us take the information about our faith and let it transform our heart where it draws us into an encounter with our loving God.
On this feast of Corpus Christi, I would like to invite us to go beyond the mantra about Liturgy as the “source and summit” of our faith. I want to invite you to ponder and pray over a fuller expression of the teaching of Vatican II on our participation in the Eucharist.“The celebration of the Eucharist, as an action of Christ and the people of God…is the center of the whole Christian life, for the universal church, the local church and for each and everyone of the faithful….the Liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all its power flows….All who are made children of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of the church, to take part in the sacrifice and to eat the Lord’s supper.” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1963, #2, 10, 41) Each Mass should be like a First Communion where there is a lot less party and a whole lot more Jesus.
