Dear Parents of First Communicants,
Welcome to the preparation period for your child’s First Holy Communion. This is a very special time for your child and for you to grow closer to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, as your child gets ready to receive Him in the Eucharist. This year is an extra special year for me since my oldest son will receive his First Communion this spring. What an incredible time for all of us!
I would like to invite you to attend one of our First Reconciliation Parent Meetings so that we can discuss this important sacrament and the requirements for First Holy Communion. You have your choice of one of three different dates: Tuesday October 21 from 3:45-4:45 PM, Wednesday October 22 from 7-8 PM, or Thursday October 23 from 1:20-2:20 PM. If you have an older child who received First Eucharist in 2006, 2007, or 2008 you are exempted from this meeting, however, we are doing some things slightly differently this year and I would strongly encourage you to attend one of these meetings even if you have been excused.
This fall, I started a blog for First Communion Sacrament Preparation called Source and Summit (http://stjohnsfirstholycommunion.blogspot.com). I will update it regularly with information and reminders and there will be some articles on the website for your information that will be exclusively online. You can sign up for a feed to have any updates automatically emailed to you as well so that you don’t have to remember to check the page.
Attached to this letter is Magnifikid!, a wonderful resource that we have been able to obtain for the children. Magnifikid! is a weekly missal which has the entire Mass reprinted inside. It also includes: daily prayers (which follow the Liturgy of the Hours), puzzles, games, and a fun comic. We have decided to buy Magnifikid! to help the boys and girls to pray well and to learn the Mass better. I encourage you to take the missal with you to weekly Mass so your child can follow along and learn the responses.
It is so crucial that you take your family to Mass for every Sunday and Holyday of Obligation. In the Third Commandment, God requires us to keep His day (Sunday) holy. The way that we do that is by coming to Mass and participating in the liturgy with other Catholics. Your child is preparing to receive Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the very first time. It is the beginning of your son’s or daughter’s deeper relationship with Christ. Please encourage and develop this relationship for your kids. If you and Jesus aren’t as tight as you used to be, now is your time to nurture and develop your own relationship with Him. Please accept Jesus’ invitation to become more deeply involved in your life.
I look forward to seeing you at one of our parent meetings. Please feel free to call me or to email me with any questions you might have. God bless you!
