Pastor’s Corner for the Solemnity of All Saints, Year C, by Fr. Bruce Botha SJ

First Holy Communion

 

On the Solemnity of All Saints, at the 09h30 mass, eighteen young members of our parish community will be making their First Holy Communion. This is a significant milestone on their faith journey. Through the Eucharist they enter more deeply into the life of Christ, and of his church.

 

By partaking of his body and blood our communicants take into themselves the source of life, love, and goodness. It is the prayer of the Church that they will become that which they consume.

 

The communion which they consume is also a communion they enter. It is by baptism that they have become members of the Church, and in the eucharist that this belonging is deepened. Communion is a sign of belonging to the community of faith. The Church believes that at the age of reason, when children know the difference between good and bad, and have an ability to comprehend the significance of the sacrament, they are then ready to receive its graces.

 

This is obviously a knowledge and understanding which they will grow into and will hopefully continue growing in throughout their lives. Our adult knowledge is incomplete and imperfect and will only reach complete perfection when we come face to face with our God. And so it is with theirs. As parents and community we must give our children every opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge, and the best way to do that is through modelling it through our own behaviour and choices.

 

Fr. Bruce Botha  SJ