First Holy Communion and the May Crowning

Dear Parishioners,

On May 3, 2026, at the 11 AM Sunday Mass, our parish will witness our religious education children receiving their First Holy Communion. It is a very special time for them and for the entire parish.

 

I began to reminisce when I received my First Holy Communion almost six decades ago. I was in first grade, not the traditional second grade. (Incidentally, the very next year, I received the Sacrament of Confirmation.) First Holy Communion was on a Saturday morning and I received Our Lord as part of a rather large class of students—approximately 50 or more.

Depending on the parish, First Holy Communion frequently is on a Saturday (usually in May) or may also be celebrated at one or more of the Sunday Masses. With our small size, the three First Communicants here will once again be receiving at the Sunday Mass.

It is critical to remember that the two families that should be most important in the children’s lives are their domestic family and their Church family. The parents are the first (and need to be the best) teachers of their children in the ways of faith.  It is also necessary to consider that we are preparing the children to be a part of the regular worshipping community that we call the Church.  While it may look “nice” or “cute” to have all of the children together in one (or two) ceremonies with their classmates and friends, it is much more essential to emphasize for them the bonds of family and Church. Essentially, we are not preparing them to be with their current friends (who may not be their friends past next week), but to be regular, practicing members of the Catholic Church as experienced through their local parish family.

Let me quote from our diocesan guidelines:

Children should be made aware that Eucharist is not a “once and done” sacrament. Therefore, there should be encouragement to the children (and their parents) to form good habits of weekly celebration of the Eucharist.

Although so many Catholics today lack commitment and seriousness when it comes to the Sunday obligation to attend Mass, our requirement to worship God regularly has never changed. With our daily prayer, God deserves our worship minimally once a week at Mass. Amazingly, when we do so, we are often the ones who benefit from hearing the Word of God preached to us from the Sacred Scriptures. We are the ones being fed with Jesus, the Bread of Life, in Holy Communion to aid us in our journey of life.

We all have much to learn from each other and to teach one another. We should rejoice to see our children share in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, as lived and experienced in our parish family. If the faith is not handed on to, experienced and practiced by our young, then eventually our Church will be nothing but a bunch of empty, lifeless buildings.

Congratulations to our First Communicants! My prayer is that your faith in Jesus Christ will grow ever stronger as you receive another important sacrament in your spiritual journey. 

Also, we will be honoring our Blessed Mother Mary after the Mass with the traditional May Crowning led by our First Communicants. Our Blessed Lady is Spiritual Mother to all of us and we publicly honor her as her spiritual children and disciples of her Divine Son, Jesus.

I hope that you can join us! 

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor