first communion Archives - Amazing Catechists

First Reconciliation and First Communion (and Beyond)

Preparing my children for their First Reconciliation and First Communion is one of the most beautiful and precious gifts that I have received as a mother. We always make it a family affair with all members renewing their love for the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance. Tommy and Katie McGrady have written two new guides for families with children preparing to receive their first Sacraments: First Reconciliation and Beyond and First Communion and Beyond. These books blend practical tips for how to receive with advice for families to grow together in their Faith.

First Reconciliation and Beyond: A Family’s Guide for Learning and Living Forgiveness

By Tommy and Katie McGrady

Published by Ave Maria Press

Just as the name implies, this book isn’t just to prepare a child for his or her First Reconciliation. Through stories and lived experiences, Tommy and Katie McGrady share not just the practical aspects of passing on the Faith, but how to live the Faith as a family. The couple takes many aspects of parenting, such as discipline and forgiveness, and related them to how the Father shows His love to us and our children through our vocation.

Practical Resources in this Book

This book is full of resources for parents and children. There are QR codes which link to a free printable of The Order for Reconciling Individual Penitents as well as free supplementary videos created by the McGradys. The Appendix includes a list of helpful Scripture passages when for examining one’s conscience, as well as examination of consciences for kids, parents, and the entire family. I love how they tailored these to each person or group. There are also FREE videos from the McGradys to guide you through this book.

Each chapter is set up in 5 parts:

A story from the McGradys’ personal experiences or from the Church
Related Scripture
Ways for the parents to grow from the lesson
Ways for children and parents to grow from the lesson (includes a sample script)
Tips for praying as a family

The writing is enjoyable, relatable, and helpful. The sections are the perfect length, and accessible for families at all stages in their Faith journey.

Who Would Enjoy this Book

This book makes the Sacrament of Reconciliation approachable for all families. I love that it provides opportunities for parents to reflect on their own spiritual journey. Growing in our own Faith is crucial for parents. This books gives a clear message that Reconciliation is just the beginning of a wonderful relationship with Christ for a person. This book would be perfect to recommend to parents of your Faith Formation program with kids preparing to receive their First Sacraments. It will both prepare the child to receive the Sacrament, and encourage the family to grow closer to Christ together.

First Communion and Beyond: A Family’s Guide to Eucharistic Joy

by Tommy and Katie McGrady

Published by Ave Maria Press

What I love about this book is how the McGradys share the small moments when they have experienced the joy and amazement of Jesus in the Eucharist with their children. This book is written just as joyfully as the first, with many helpful and practical ways for the entire family to grow in love for the Eucharist. The layout is the same as the reconciliation book with the 5 familiar parts (story, scripture, parent reflection, family discussion, and prayer). There are also free videos that go along with this book.

I loved the stories in this book as much as the ones in the first Reconciliation book. I love the way the McGradys reflect on the Bible passages in each book. Truly, these books are treasures for families preparing their children for their first Sacraments!

Read these with your parish or at home

These books are just perfect for families in your classes that are preparing to receive first Reconciliation and first Communion. They each consist of 5 chapters, so I recommend reading a chapter a week. Holding a discussion with the families after they read each chapter would be wonderful. In fact, Ave Maria offers bulk discounts if you want to buy many copies of either book for your parish program. The books would be just as fruitful to read on your own with your family.

Be sure to check out more of our First Reconciliation and First Communion resources:

First Communion Retreat

By Deanna Bartalini

This time of year often finds those of us who prepare children for First Holy Communion in our final weeks of preparation. In our program, children receive First Holy Communion on the first Sunday in May. We have a morning retreat for them a few weeks before. It’s a chance to come together and do some activities together, take an up close tour of the church, practice the songs for Mass and practice how to receive.

Click to download!

First Communion Retreat Schedule and Resources

Here is an outline with the resources we use:

9:00 am Welcome, distribute name tags

9:05: Opening Prayer

3 stations, each 20 minutes long;

9:20 – 9:40; 9:45 – 10:05; 10:10- 10:30

Station #1 The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith by Josephine Nobisso; I use the book, but there is also a Youtube video available. We read the book and then ask questions about it. If you have not read it, do so. It is an amazing story with beautiful illustrations. At a certain point in the story, the children listening will start nodding and gasping as they understand what is happening and the meaning behind all the action.

Station #2 Chalice and Host craft; I found this on The Catholic Toolbox.

Station #3 The Last Supper; I read the Last Supper and then do a short reenactment with unleavened bread and grape juice.

10:35: The Making of Communion Bread; this is an awesome video that not only demonstrates how hosts are made but explains what the Eucharist means to us. A Passionist nun of Erlanger, Kentucky, is our guide for this brief ten-minute video.

10:50: Snack and Bathroom break

First Communion Retreat Snack

Mix the following ingredients together in a large bowl, telling what each ingredient represents. We have some for a snack and then the rest is bagged up with a tag on it for the children to take home.

First Communion Retreat Church Tour

11:00: Church Tour; I point out our various statues, holy water font, tabernacle, how to genuflect, Mass responses and postures. We also practice how to receive Holy Communion, with unconsecrated hosts, of course! Then our music director teaches us the songs we will use at the Mass. We close in prayer in the Church and then go back to the parish hall for parents to pick up the children at noon.

More Resources for Preparing Children for First Communion

This article originally appeared on amazingcatechists.com on March 18, 2015. This article was updated on April 19, 2024 by Alex Resch to include a free printable First Holy Communion Retreat Schedule and other formatting.

Catechizing about Communion outside Classroom Walls

By Karee Santos

Catechizing doesn’t have to stay within classroom walls, as Cyndi Marlow, Coordinator of Children’s Faith Formation at St. Gabriel the Archangel Church, well knows. Kids learn better with strong parental involvement, and teaching kids often means teaching their parents, too. So Cyndi keeps the parents informed and up to date by occasionally emailing them articles and blogposts. After reading my blogpost on my fourth child’s First Communion, Cyndi decided she had to share the post with the parents whose kids were being prepared for First Holy Communion. Cyndi told me:

This arrived with perfect timing. … I work with families of children preparing and so many times I witness that they have put their focus on the dress, the party, the cake, the photographer, etc, even putting the focus on the children having a pageant like experience….I love this paragraph [of your post] “Because when you take away the pretty dress and the pretty hair, the veil, the crown, the gloves, and the festivities, what’s behind it all is Jesus. At First Communion, we’re not celebrating our children so much as we’re celebrating him — the God of Love who took flesh and blood in order to bring us eternal life. Our eyes and our hearts should be turned to him.” AMEN!!!

To everyone who works to prepare kids (and their parents!) for First Communion, feel free to share the original version of this post at my Can We Cana? blog, just like Cyndi did. And have a blessed Easter season!

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First Communion, Fourth Time Lucky

Scabbed heads, burned faces, and stomach viruses might not seem like a lucky start to my fourth child Marguerite’s First Communion day. Poor Marguerite tripped over the curb at school a few days before her First Communion and went flying up, up, up, and then down onto the pavement. Scabbed knees, scabbed hands, but the worst was a big scab on her forehead right by her hairline. Not the best for close-up shots.Then there was my husband’s burned face. He got scalded in the shower (horrible, I know — how did that happen?), and the entire left side of his face was covered by a reddish-purplish burn. To disguise it, we had to decide between a Phantom of the Opera style mask, a Middle Eastern veil, or Loreal True Match foundation. We went with the foundation. The whole unfortunate event reminded my husband of the time in high school that he let his brother Tony cut his hair.

Hair buzzer: “Skkkrrt.”
Tony: “Uh-oh.”

Left with a bald spot in the back of his head, my husband colored it in with a black magic marker so no one would notice. See the parallels? But I digress.

The wonders of modern make-up

Finally, there was the matter of my younger daughter Cecilia’s stomach virus. I’ll spare you the gory details, but they were — gory. None of the guests invited to the First Communion party was willing to set foot in the house plagued by such an unpleasant virus.

My mother-in-law mourned the absence of a full-scale shindig like we had for our other children’s First Communions. It doesn’t matter, I told my mother-in-law, Marguerite will have a party with Jesus. Because when you take away the pretty dress and the pretty hair, the veil, the crown, the gloves, and the festivities, what’s behind it all is Jesus. At First Communion, we’re not celebrating our children so much as we’re celebrating him — the God of Love who took flesh and blood in order to bring us eternal life. Our eyes and our hearts should be turned to him.

So we might not have been able to bring Marguerite to his altar without blemish or spot (Eph. 5:27). We might not have been able to bring ourselves that way either. But all the minor calamity took our minds off of what we were bringing Jesus and made us focus on what he was giving us — freely, undeservedly, despite our inner and outer flaws, and despite the masks we wore to cover them. We cannot possibly merit the gift of God sacrificing himself for us on the altar or on Calvary so many centuries ago. We can only receive it with humility and devotion. Realizing the enormity of God’s gift in the Eucharist is what made Marguerite’s First Communion the luckiest — the most blessed — of all.