Our 2019/2020 First Holy Communion programme got underway in October. We follow the programme ‘God’s Greatest Gift’ where we look at the many gifts that are given to us by God. We began with the gifts of creation and the gift of ourselves; our skills, our talents, our uniqueness.
In our second session in November, we thought about the gift of Baptism. We talked about what happens at Baptism and how important Baptism is to our life as Catholic Christians. At mass, Deacon Séamus asked the children what they would do if they were given the gift of a million pounds. His message was that we wouldn’t just think that it was very nice and do nothing with it; we’d spend it. The same is true of our Baptism. We’ve been given an important gift and it is our job to use it, to take Jesus to others through our own actions.
The children’s parents are also involved in our preparations. Each time the children meet, the parents spend some time together finding out what the children are doing and sharing their own experiences of the faith. In this way, the journey to First Holy Communion involves the whole family.