That First Communion Joy

Our twin nephews made their First Communion this weekend, and I was so excited for them.

There is something so wonderful about watching children encounter God in a new way. The day took me back to our children’s First Communion days—and reminded me of my own.

My grandmother’s brother was a Jesuit priest, and my Uncle Miles gave me the Eucharist for the first time. He was visiting Baltimore and staying at the Jesuit residence at what was then Loyola College. We went to Mass in the little chapel in the residence—a Mass for just our family.

I remember where I was standing in the chapel, and how Uncle Miles so reverently and gently gave me the Body of Christ. Then he turned to my mother, and they talked about whether to also offer me the Blood of Christ in the chalice—and he did.

It was all so mystical and miraculous and wondrous and new.

But it was also familiar and comfortable and beautiful in a low-key way. Because there was no enormous ceremony. It was just a family Mass with Uncle Miles, but I was meeting Jesus in an exciting new way.

I must have been wearing my lovely white dress and veil, and we must have gone home afterward for photos and cake. But the moment I remember best is when I received the Eucharist for the first time. It was so personal and wondrous and new.

Watching our nephews make their First Communions, I wondered what was going through their young minds. Everyone probably experiences the Eucharist in a different way. But that sense of discovery and connection that first time seems like it must always be like nothing else.

I hope these boys will remember their First Communion Day for the rest of their lives. Maybe they’ll look back on it as a time when a fire was lit within them, when they took a big step in their faith journey, and when they experienced God’s love in the Eucharist for the first time.

However we remember our First Communions, what a gift that Jesus is ready to meet us at Mass whenever we go, inviting us to be united with him, and to let him love us fully and completely.

“Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you—for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart,” St. Therese of Lisieux said.

At your next Mass, whether you receive the Eucharist for the first or the 5,001^st time, may you encounter Jesus with a sense of excitement and wonder and joy—just like a child on their First Communion day.

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