Disclaimer: The following is my own opinion based on my own observations over many years of being a parent, a musician, and a parishioner. I am not a member of the clergy, a catechist, or the holder of a degree in theology.
This past weekend, it was my privilege to be one of the musicians at our parish’s First Holy Communion celebration. This is the first time in several years that First Holy Communion was held on a Saturday.
I’m not a fan.
I can think of only four reasons to schedule First Holy Communion as a separate event for only the children in the Communion class and their families:
- Hairdressers are open on Saturdays.
- It’s easier to schedule the afterparty.
- Sunday Mass won’t take 5 extra minutes because there are a few children receiving First Holy Communion, and it takes a little longer to have them (and their parents) receive before the entire assembly.
- There’s a good deal of extra running around involved for the DRE.
None of these are good reasons. All of these (except reason 4) pander to people who are either more concerned about the externals of the celebration than the sacrament itself or likely to complain because Mass is a little longer than usual. We need to challenge the assembly, including the families of children receiving sacraments, to be better than this.
I can think of one compelling reason to (as my parish has done for the past few years) designate a Sunday (or two) as First Communion Sunday and invite families to sign up for the Mass they usually attend and receive First Communion:
Reception of the Eucharist is not a private event.
The celebration of First Holy Communion should not be divorced from the rest of the parish.
I used to love when First Communion Sundays rolled around. There would be several families arriving in the vestibule as I got there. The other musicians and I would make sure to congratulate the children. The First Communicants and their families would sit in the first few rows of pews, and there would be special mention of First Communion during the homily and the Prayer of the Faithful. The rest of the people at Mass were the people who are also usually at that Mass, and seeing children receive First Communion at Sunday Mass strengthens that community bond within the parish.
Three years ago, when my friends’ sons received First Holy Communion, I wrote:
I love that at this parish, First Communion is celebrated during Sunday Masses, so that the whole community gets to be there to celebrate along with the children who have been waiting in the pews for seven or eight years to join the rest of the assembly in the sacrament.
Those boys are altar servers now. There’s a commitment to the Church that is affirmed when a family faithfully attends Mass together.
And then there are the other reasons that Sunday is the proper day for First Communion:
- The pastor will not be tempted to tell parents of First Communicants, “If you’re not going to bring them on Sunday, don’t bother bringing them on Saturday.” (Yes, this happened when my oldest received his First Communion in 2000.)
- The pastor and/or deacon will not need to provide verbal directions such as “Please kneel” (after the Holy, Holy, Holy) because even if there are visitors among the families of the First Communicants, the vast majority of the assembly will know what to do and will lead by example.
- There won’t be a low hum of conversation throughout the entire Mass. (Yes, this happened at the class Mass on Saturday.)
- Catechists won’t need to scold First Communicants for talking and fidgeting while they wait for the rest of the assembly to receive Communion, because the First Communicants will be sitting with their parents, who should be monitoring and modeling church behavior. (Yes, this happened at the class Mass on Saturday.)
- Family members and friends of the First Communicants will be less tempted to treat the occasion as a photo opportunity (even after instructions to the contrary are given) and won’t jump out into the aisle to wave at their First Communicant during the entrance procession. (Yes, this happened (several times) at the class Mass on Saturday.)
There should be nothing in the religious education program at a parish that sends the message (intentionally or not) that sacraments of initiation are private events, to be enjoyed only by those receiving those sacraments and their families and friends.
Copyright 2017 Barb Szyszkiewicz, OFS
Interesting. I wonder if you think this is a problem that has largely arisen from First Communion being divorced from Confirmation? We have the restored order in my diocese (such a blessing!), and it is scheduled when the bishop is able to be there, usually on a weekday. The celebration is open to all parishioners, unless the class is too big (140 at our parish this year will fill it up).
Just curious. Though I dislike that baptisms here have largely been removed from the Sunday celebration, which is a similar situation.
I mentioned to one of the deacons once that I loved when we had baptisms during Mass, only to be told that lots of people complain every time we do. Because it adds 5 minutes to Mass. GRRRRRRRR
We only had 30 receive Communion this year. Not unmanageable when spread out over 4 Masses on a Sunday. I’ve never had experience with restored order so I can’t speak to that, but it’s an interesting theory.
I like what you are saying, but we had 80 First Communicants. And that is not unusual for our parish. We had 2 Masses and the church was pretty crowded. I agree, with a smaller number, it would be better at Mass.