For the last two weeks, I have had the honor to be able to first hand witness and distribute First Communion to the youngsters of St. Bruno Parish. This is always a fun day for me as I get to chat with the kids during the homily about what it means to receive Jesus in this particular and very intimate way, I (hopefully, we) get to experience the excitement of the children as they get to fulfill a long-time dream to come to the table and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and I get to distribute this glorious gift of spiritual nourishment to these who hunger so much for it. It’s a great day.
I try to remember back to my first communion. I can’t remember back that far, at least not with great detail or clarity. I have had other moments in my life that have shown me the great significance that the Eucharist can be/should be in life. I pray that as people come up to receive every week that it is not just a routine action that we do simply because everyone else in the church is doing it. I pray that we take a moment to intentionally prepare ourselves to receive such a great gift that strengthens us on our journey until we meet again the next week.
I came across this paragraph in one of my books I use for homily prep by Fr. Stanley J Kempa:
There is such a thing as a spiritual recession, a decline in the spiritual life of an individual or a nation.
Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist implies recommitment, the imitation of Christ’s love, the embrace of dying as a way to life, the acceptance of Christ’s mission as our own and the personal graces of the Eucharist. These are all ways that we can prevent a spiritual recession or even a spiritual depression from occurring in our lives.
The Eucharist is how we sustain and strengthen our new life in Christ. It is our protection against spiritual decline.
Fr Chuck
P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers.
I wish everyone could have a perfect mom like I had in mine and I have again in my step-mom.
God Bless you ALLways.