For scores of this year’s First Communicants, the reopening of schools and religious education programs will signal an ongoing and deepening sense of awareness of receiving the Eucharist.
Talk to children about the memories they have carried with them for the past three months, and it’s clear they continue to be moved by being able to receive the Body of Christ.
“I felt very happy and holy,” eight-year-old Vera Rossini said of her First Holy Communion day in Saint Padre Pio Parish, Vineland. Vera, the daughter of Julian and Karla Rossini, attends Saint Mary Regional School, also in Vineland.
She described how her anticipation grew as she and her fellow First Communicants prepared with CCD Coordinator Jacqueline Quinlan to receive the sacrament.
“Miss Quinlan taught us that the Eucharist is the Body of Christ. When she told me about it, it made me think about Holy Communion and being safe from my sins. I was really looking forward to it. It was really exciting. Every time I went to Mass, I would watch people [receive Communion,] and I wanted to go up and receive the Body of Christ, too.”
She added, “I have a little brother, Valentino, who is two. Maybe when it’s almost his time, I will tell him how special it is.”
Nora Sheridan, 8, the daughter of Jennifer and Matthew Sheridan, received the Eucharist for the first time May 1 in Saint Joseph Parish, Somers Point, where she and her brother Christopher, and twin siblings, Matthew and Grace, have all attended Saint Joseph Regional School.
She said receiving the sacrament made her feel “more like a part of the Church. It reminds me that Jesus is always with me.”
Nora said she had always been “curious about what it would taste like, and I enjoyed going to class every week to learn about it.”
Her siblings helped Nora prepare for the big day, setting up their kitchen as a church and substituting Goldfish and Ritz Crackers for the host as they coached her on how to receive in the hand properly.
Jennifer Sheridan praised the Saint Joseph Parish staff, saying, “The church preparation did a really nice job, providing parents with talking points, video links and information to help share with the kids on their level to strengthen their understanding at home as well as in the church.”
“It’s important to involve children this young in the Catholic Church,” she continued. “It helps to instill belief at an early age [in order] to carry that forward as their foundation in the world.”
Vera’s grandmother, Joan Morton, recalled the communal spirit of her granddaughter’s First Holy Communion. “Faith lends structure to your life,” she said. “Many times in life, we get lost. To be able to call up the reserves of faithful practice is important.”
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