First Eucharist
Take and eat, this is my Body.
Preparation for the Sacrament of the Eucharist is typically in the second grade, after First Reconciliation. To help you in preparing your child to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus for the first time, we offer various preparation options:
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Kingdom Kids weekly faith formation sessions
Our traditional faith formation setting is offered Monday evening at Pax Christi from either 4:45-5:45 pm or 6:30-7:30 pm. Children are in age-specific groups with two catechists (teachers) The curriculum is based on the We Believe series from Sadlier Publishers. It is especially important for public school families to attend these sessions. -
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
A Montessori based faith formation is offered Wednesday evening from 6-7:30 pm Pax Christi. Children ages six-nine are in an atrium, a room specifically designed for them with two catechists (teachers) The curriculum is based on the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. -
Catholic Schools
The Second Grade curriculum in the Rochester Catholic Schools includes preparation for the sacraments.
All children attend a parent information meeting in the fall, a parent/child retreat in February, and a First Communion Mass in the spring.
For the 2011-2012 school year the dates are:
- Parent Information meeting - Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011 after our beginning-of-year celebration (4:30 pm meal, 5:30 pm program by Tim Smith - nationally known Catholic recording artist, 6:30 pm parent meeting)
- Parent/child Eucharist retreat - Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 9 am-12:30 pm
- First Communion Masses (choose one time) Saturday, April 14 @ 5:15 pm, Sunday April 15 @ 9 am, or Sunday, April 15 @ 10:45 am
To participate in any of these programs, please complete our Printable Registration Form.
To give of your time and talent to help us share the faith, please complete our printable Stewardship of Time and Talent Form.
Also, to ensure we have accurate records, please complete the First Communion information form and return it to the office. .
For those older than second grade, contact Joyce Lehman for more information.
Eucharist is received after the Sacrament of Reconciliation. See the Reconciliation page for more information.
How do I know my child is ready?
- They attend Sunday Eucharist regularly with the family.
- Prayer is a part of their daily life.
- They show a sense of reverence for God.
- They have a relationship with Jesus.
- They know the difference between ordinary bread and wine and the body and Blood of Jesus.
What is the difference between communion and Eucharist?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, (paragraphs 1328-1332) the Sacrament has these names:
- Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification.
- The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.
- The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at the Last Supper. It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection, and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.
- The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.
- The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection.
- The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.
- The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.
- Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. We also call it: the holy things the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality, viaticum. . . .
- Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.
Questions?
Joyce Lehman
Elementary Youth Minister
First Reconciliation and First Eucharist Coordinator
elementary@paxchristichurch.org
507) 226-0395