Eucharist or Holy Communion
A child’s first communion or reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist normally takes place in the second grade - the year in which the child reaches the age of 8 - or later. The child will be expected to take part in a program of preparation, and there will also be preparation sessions for parents. The preparation for Eucharist is required in addition to the regularly scheduled religion sessions. The Archdiocese requires a young person’s weekly participation in a Religious Education Program the year prior to and the year of preparation. That is, in order to receive a sacrament this year, a young person would need to have been enrolled in a catholic school or attended religious education sessions both last year and this year as well.
A mandatory meeting for parents of First Communicants is held in September. Parents need to attend only one of these meetings. This meeting will include information for Reconciliation and Holy Communion. Please watch for future dates.
Communion at Home. If you are sick or housebound, you may feel cut off from the spiritual life of the Church, especially from the Mass. Receiving Holy Communion keeps you ‘in communion’ with Christ and the Church at these times. Holy Communion can be brought to you at home by the parish priest or by a lay minister of Holy Communion.
All of the sick or housebound are an important part of the parish, so please inform the parish office if you are unable to be at Mass even for a short time, so that you may be brought Holy Communion at home.
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The Parish Priest will invite suitable parishioners to undertake this important ministry. After preparation and training in the parish, the new minister will be commissioned by the Bishop for one year. The commission is renewed annually in the parish, normally on the feast of Corpus Christi. As well as assisting with the distribution of Communion at Mass, ministers may be asked to take Communion to sick and housebound members of the parish.