O Sacrament Most Holy...

Our sweet Tate was supposed to make his First Communion on May 2nd at our home Parish, Ss. Peter and Paul. May 2nd came and went with our beloved churches closed and access to the sacraments limited.

When Gov. Walz ended the stay-at-home order, our priest immediately made daily Mass available to attendees according to the guidelines set by the Archdiocese, so I signed up our family for a pew. Soon afterward, a phone call with our wonderful Faith Formation Director resulted in the decision that not only would our family be attending Mass for the first time since March, but Tate would also be receiving his First Holy Communion that day!

Tate was well-prepared. His teacher at St. Francis Xavier School had been working with the children throughout the school year. He and I had worked our way through our Faith Formation program books, had read stories of children receiving their First Communion, and, most fittingly, we had just finished making our Marian Consecration as a family. (see previous post, I take you as my Mother...). 

On Tuesday, May 26th, our second-born became a tabernacle of our Lord. The Mass was at St. Thomas Church in Corcoran; not our home parish, but part of our parish cluster. The sparse Mass attendees prayed over him, clapped for him, and thanked him for the joy they brought to the celebration. 

Social distancing, hand sanitizer, masks... but still, receiving our Lord.

Tate and Fr. Jenson, after having his special gifts blessed.

We are so proud of this young man!

Receiving a special rosary as a gift from Mom and Dad.

Special treats for his special day!

Tate's First Communion was very different from Lily's four years ago. Hardly anyone in church, a weekday Mass, no professional photographer, no large celebration afterward because of Covid. We could have waited and scheduled his sacrament at a Sunday Mass. His classmates at St. Francis Xavier (who are all members of that parish) have been scheduled to receive theirs in September and October, when hopefully Mass restrictions have been lifted and family and friends can attend. 

But, why wait? When the heart is ready, why postpone receiving Jesus? I must say, having Tate receive this sacrament so "privately," with just a few people as witnesses (including my parents and his godfather -- what a blessing!) was very poignant. It reminded me of the true significance of this most holy of sacraments: that Jesus wants to be with us. It is about Him and us. Not about who else is there or the celebration afterward. Don't get me wrong, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time deserves to be celebrated(!), but the beauty of the experience isn't in the celebration, and lack of a celebration certainly isn't a reason to postpone a sacrament. 

My heart aches a little at what Tate missed -- being surrounded by family and friends as he takes this momentous step in his faith. At the same time, I'm incredibly grateful, especially given these uncertain, turbulent times, that Christ as come to my beautiful son's heart. I'm glad we didn't wait.

O sacrament most holy, 

O sacrament divine,

All praise and all thanksgiving

Be every moment thine!