Eucharist

"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.'" (John 6:35)
 

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Children typically prepare for their First Holy Communion during the second half of their second grade year and celebrate this sacrament of the Eucharist the last weekend of April. Parents are asked to join in helping their child prepare by taking them to Mass on Sunday, modeling reception of the Holy Eucharist, attending parent meetings, and working on preparation in the home as well as being involved in what is happening in their child’s religion classes.

The church recommends that children prepare for and celebrate Reconciliation prior to receiving communion. Children at St. Joseph prepare for this sacrament of healing in the fall and celebrate during Advent.

Holy Eucharist is the sacrament in which Jesus Christ gives his Body and Blood for us, so that we too might give ourselves to him in love and be united with him in Holy Communion. In this way we are joined with the one Body of Christ, the Church.

After Baptism and Confirmation, the Eucharist is the third sacrament of initiation of the Catholic Church. The Eucharist is the mysterious center of all these sacraments, because the historic sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is made present during the words of consecration in a hidden, unbloody manner. Thus the celebration of the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" (Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium [LG], 11). Everything aims at this; besides this there is nothing greater that one could attain. When we eat the broken Bread, we unite ourselves with the love of Jesus, who gave his body for us on the wood of the Cross; when we drink from the chalice, we unite ourselves with him who even poured out his blood out of love for us. We did not invent this ritual. Jesus himself celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples and therein anticipated his death; he gave himself to his disciples under the signs of bread and wine and commanded them from then on, even after his death, to celebrate the Eucharist. "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24). (YOUCAT question 208)