PARENTS > FIRST EUCHARIST

Session 6: At Home This Week

Review

We Are Sent Out to Love God and 
Change the World

In this lesson, we focused on the Concluding Rite and how we are sent to change the world.
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Start with a review with your child.  Look through the handouts with your child, asking what he or she remembers or has questions about. 
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This week in Mass, help your child recognize what's happening during the Concluding Rite.

Learning to Pray

Creative Prayers

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Prayer doesn't have to be rote.  Teach your child how to pray through their imagination (like Pope Francis does), artwork, or writing letters to God.

Preparing For Communion

Three Tips

This is the final lesson in the preparation process for your child’s First Communion, but the work isn’t done yet!  Growing Up Catholic doesn’t stop now. And growing in your faith hasn’t stopped for you either. Continue to follow the suggestions we are making this week, and you’ll find your child will learn from you. In fact, you are really the primary teacher for your child in all matters of faith and moral living. Thank you for all that you’re doing for your child!

Here are three ways to help your child in the final preparation for Holy Communion this week – and always!

1. Create a home filled with love
  • Affirm your child every single day!
  • Sit with him or her often and talk about what’s happening in his or her life.
  • Share meals as often as possible, even if it means putting off things such as TV, sports, shopping, etc.
  • Remind your child daily that you love him/her, even on days when things have been especially challenging. Children need to know you still love them even if they don't behave well. This is one of the best ways to model God's love because God still loves us when we aren't at our best. If children can come to believe that a parent will always love them, it will be easier to believe that God does also.
  • Bless your child every night. You can say something as simple as “Good night, God bless you. I love you.”
2. Review the lessons of Growing Up Catholic
  • Pay special attention to this last lesson.
  • Help your child practice receiving Communion – don’t be afraid to play-act receiving Communion itself.
  • Collect all the pages of Growing Up Catholic and create a booklet for your child.
  • Help your child grow to love and respect the Eucharist. The best way to encourage this is to expose them to it often and let them witness your reverence for it. 
3. Be a part of the parish community
  • You and your child are welcome at Mass each week. Family and friends who aren't Catholic are also welcome to join you at Mass.
  • If you are in a situation where you think you cannot receive Communion, consider speaking about this with a priest or someone on your parish staff. Sometimes people refrain from receiving Communion because they mistakenly think they aren't “allowed” to.
  • If your spouse or partner does not come to Mass, make sure he or she knows they are welcome!