In the Catholic Church most people take Eucharist for the first time as children (approx. 2nd-3rd grade). This is preceded by one or two years of catechesis/religious education either at the child's parish or in a Catholic school (parochial or stand alone). This school year I've been giving First Eucharist "classes" to three children of one of my closest friends (and of one his sibling's children), and I've got a few thoughts about the process.
The program of religious education stresses preparation to receive reconciliation for the first time and then to receive Eucharist. The preparation is age-appropriate, which means that story and experiential actions take precedence over mystical theology or religious philosophy. For example, in my preparation of the four children I have stressed the New Testament stories where Jesus talks about reconciliation and the stories in the New Testament that give us the narrative of the last supper and it's transformation into the paradigmatic models that give us the framework for our modern celebration of our Eucharistic liturgies. Stress is given to the Catholic teaching of the real presence in the Eucharist as well as to the necessity and importance of the regular celebration of reconciliation, but it in no way is a course in sacramental theology.
So what are my thoughts?
1. There is no "best time" for first reconciliation and first Eucharist. Some parishes / individual diocesan entities / individual theologians will argue that for historical / theological / pastoral reasons the age of first reconciliation/Eucharist should be: birth, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, Jr. High, high school, or adulthood. The New Testament posits that baptism (and, by inference and anachronistic language) confirmation and Eucharist pretty much took place at approximately the same time (and for whole households on occasion). Modern sacramental theology and practice gives us baptism, confirmation and Eucharist all prepared for at the same time as the norm - the Church as a whole seems to be reluctant to make that the norm in lieu of baptism as an infant, Eucharist as a child and confirmation as a teen.
2. Since I do sacramental prep at my work place, I have a small sample of parents to draw from for this observation, but it's also a general observation as the campus minister for my school: there are some parents who want the whole of Catholic theology, culture, and history taught to their students every year. Perhaps it's my youth ministry background, or perhaps it's the fact that I did not attend Catholic school until I hit college, or the fact that I firmly believe in a youth ministry model as the proper place for teen/preteen/child catechesis - whatever the case, I prefer for religion to be taught on an experiential level with an academic or intellectual component, and not the other way around (where academics and intellect are stressed to the point where any other type of learning is put out by the wayside). I think kids get more from being engaged in their faith development then just from lectures and reading.
3. Being in ministry (this is a side rant) seems to be a compromise between being not Catholic enough and being too Catholic for the Pope. If we're stressing Eucharistic Adoration we have some families who want more social engagement. If we're teaching the social teaching of the Catholic Church there are some who want to know why their child does not know how to pray the rosary. If we talk about Mary there are some who want to know why we don't talk about Dorothy Day and vice versa. It seems a hard, thin line to follow where I (and the school in general) are not veering too much in one direction.
4. 2nd and 3rd graders are enraptured by the rituals, smells, sounds, sights and pomp of their First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. At their first reconciliation these 7 year olds go into the confessional looking like they've just committed multiple homicides - they come out floating on air with halos and wings. Nervous as they may be before they confess for the first time, they obviously feel the benefits of a good confession. Same with their First Eucharist - they partake of the sacrament with more reverence and joy and awe then most people I see taking communion (and I place myself in that group!). Even thought I don't think there's a magical age at which these sacraments would first be taken, I like that younger children are usually the lucky ones for this - they still have a comprehension of the mystery alluded to by the sacraments that older people will tend to gloss over in their desire to achieve factual and theologically nuanced mastery of the sacramental principals.
And that's about it for now - for those that can, enjoy the rest of your Spring Break! :-)
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
5 comments:
As you can guess it's difficult for me to relate here but one thing that touched me was this picture;
"these 7 year olds go into the confessional looking like they've just committed multiple homicides - they come out floating on air with halos and wings" ;-)
I agree though, we teach our children to know all about God but spend very little time teaching them how to know Him.
I spend quite a bit of time with my 4th and 7th graders in prayer - with my 4th graders we pray mostly prayers of petition at the beginning of each class. Wiht my 7th graders we also start with prayers of petition, but at the end of class we do contemplative prayer (which they've really started to enjoy and ask for when I forget). I think both are needed, but I do agree that sometimes, especially in my Catholic school system world, we tend to emphasize that the head is the best way to be a "good Catholic."
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
Jayne:
Thanks for the comments - I really like the RCIA process - when done well it gives a wonderful introduction (or re-introduction, as you noted) to the Catholic faith. I also think that most of the issues I have with our current sacramental model is probably that most of the programs I've seen are "program-centered" and not "student" centered (as seen from a ministry/pastoral perspective).
As for your choice in Scripture, I actually prefer the Revised Standard Version - there are some quirks in the NIV that I don't particularly like, and the NAB seems too stiff at times in teh translation. My second favorite translation is The Message Remixed - I tend to use that when working with my students (and adults, too!) because the translation sounds so much more like modern English.
Many prayers as you continue to work out your salvation in fear and trembling!
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
PS: Before I forget - somewhere in the deep recesses of my blog I have two posts on confession (I think) - I'll see if I can put up the URL's for them sometime soon.
This is my first visit to your blog. I like confession to go before First Eucharist. Simply because their are many parents (my godchild's) who only get their kids to church for baptism and First Eucharist. Confession at their church comes in fourth grade. My step niece never went. I pray for my goddaughter.
As for confession, I had a hard time with it also for a long time. I met a seminarian who convinced me of it's importance. I made an appointment with our parish priest to do my first confession of 20 years. It was wonderful. I have received so many blessings and healing from the sacrament.
I will be back.
If we keep to the Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist process (and if they're done together, as with RCIA) there is no need for Reconciliaiton as baptism takes care of all sins prior to taking communion. However, where the rite is still not restored (as it isn't for our kids) then I agree that reconciliation should take place before first Eucharist (as an aside, currently in my diocese the Catholic schools do both in 2nd grade; starting next year reconciliaiton will be in 2nd grade and first Eucharist in 3rd grade; most parishes do it this way and our bishop wants uniform preparation for all students).
One thing to keep in mind is that, while frequent celebration of reconciliation is good, strictly speaking you only *have* to confess when you have mortal sins to confess. I'm of the opinion that for most kids mortal sins just aren't that common - your step neice/goddaughter, unless she's already in her teens, probably doesn't have much to worry about yet. But she'll be in my prayers as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
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