first holy communion Archives - Amazing Catechists

7 First Reconciliation and First Communion Articles

Do you have students or a child preparing for First Reconciliation or First Holy Communion? Here are our articles that you may find helpful to prepare for these sacraments.

First Reconciliation and First Communion (and Beyond)

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. Click here to see my review and where to purchase these guides.

First Communion Retreat

A short morning retreat for First Communicants sounds good, but what should you do? Deanna shares her outline to give you some ideas you can use that are fun and engaging.

Examination of Conscience for Kids

Lisa Mladinich received this superb Examination of Conscience for kids from a colleague–educator and popular speaker Barbara Falk.

How to Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 7 Steps

Your child may be preparing to receive his or her First Reconciliation, or you may be looking for a refresher on how to receive the Sacrament yourself! Today, I am sharing 7 steps for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

First Holy Communion Preparation and Simple Catechism Lesson Plans

Today, I will share some practical tips and resources for First Holy Communion Preparation. It is great for Catholics to have a firm foundation of knowledge of the Faith that they can build upon throughout their lives. To accompany these tips, I have also developed easy lesson plans for teaching the faith with the New St. Joseph First Communion Catechism.

Sin Dims the Candle: An Object Lesson for Confession

Try out this simple and effective object lesson for teaching kids about Confession! Teach them about sin and how healing the Sacrament of Reconciliation truly is using only a jar and a candle.

What’s so Temporal About This Punishment? | The Importance of Penance

After teaching kids about Reconciliation, be sure to follow up with a lesson on Penance. What is Penance and we do we need it? Marc Cardaronella breaks it all down for us in this post.

First Holy Communion Preparation and Simple Catechism Lesson Plans

By Alex Resch

First Holy Communion preparation is one of the most important journeys for a Catholic, and it is the parents’ responsibility (and privilege!) to raise their children in the faith. Whether your child attends Catholic school or your parish’s Faith Formation program, you, as the parent, must guide your child towards Christ by leading by example and discussing the Faith with him or her.

First Communion preparation has two parts:

leading your child towards Christ by setting an example of how to have a relationship with Him, and helping your child cultivate that loving relationship
teaching your child the basics of our Catholic Faith

What is Holy Communion?

The Holy Eucharist was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. The Last Supper occurred on Holy (Maundy) Thursday – the night before he was crucified and died on the cross.

From Mark 14:22-24:

“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’”

Holy Communion (or Holy Eucharist) is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Every Mass is a continuation of the sacrifice that Jesus made when He gave His body for us on the cross on Good Friday.

Jesus Christ comes to us in the form of bread and wine every time we receive Holy Communion.

What do you have to do before First Communion?

The two sacraments that must be received before receiving First Holy Communion are Baptism and Reconciliation.

Baptism cleanses us of original sin. We only receive the sacrament of Baptism once.

The sacrament of reconciliation can (and must!) be received throughout our lives. This ensures that our soul is as pure as possible when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

How do I prepare my child for First Holy Communion?

First Holy Communion Preparation at Home

First Holy Communion preparation begins in the home. A family should:

Pray together daily
Attend Mass together on Sundays
Live the faith daily

Model Reverence for the Eucharist

The best thing that parents can do to prepare their children to receive First Holy Communion is to model reverence for Our Lord Jesus Christ – especially when we are in His presence in Mass or Adoration!

Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, and we should remind our children of this often.

As parents, we must model reverence when in the presence of the tabernacle or Sacred Host by genuflecting (and even veiling for women – if you feel called to!). Genuflecting and veiling shows humility and respect towards Jesus.

You must also always model reverence in how you receive Holy Communion. To do this, be sure to be fully present when assisting at the Mass.

Pray during the Consecration with utmost love and devotion. When the priest elevated the Host, be sure to pray the words of St. Thomas: “My Lord, and my God!”

During the elevation of the Precious Blood, be sure to pray: “Dear Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

Teach your children to also pray these prayers.

After receiving Holy Communion, pray with sincere thanksgiving to God for sending us His Son to us in Holy Communion.

Make sure to always fast for at least one hour before receiving Holy Communion.

Always receive Communion in a state of grace. This is possible by frequently receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation.

In addition, help the child practice how to receive Communion reverently at home before they receive their First Holy Communion.

First Communion Catechism Lessons

As a homeschooling parent and religious educator, The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism is an easy, traditional, and enjoyable primary resource to use for First Communion catechism lessons and preparation.

When do you start catechism class?

Children can (and should!) begin preparing to receive their First Holy Communion from birth in the home. The parents are the primary educators of their children’s faith.

Traditionally, formal instruction or lessons begin in first grade. The instruction continues into second grade. Most children receive First Holy Communion in 2nd grade around the age of 7 or 8.

How many years of catechism for First Communion?

As stated above, 2 years of instruction is expected for receiving Holy Communion.

However, you truly can start instruction at younger ages.

Remember that learning the faith should happen over a child’s lifetime! You are laying a strong foundation to get your child started. Take your time and focus on quality over quantity.

First Holy Communion Lesson Plans for the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism

The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism is simple enough for preschoolers to understand. It also includes engaging pictures for little Catholics to enjoy. You can use the following plans from starting at ages 3 or 4.

At these ages, you can read the catechism to your child. You can also start quizzing them on the end of lesson questions. Also, children at this age are like sponges and have fantastic memories. You can absolutely start teaching them to memorize the catechism questions!

The beauty of this lesson plan is that you can choose your pace. You can also use the plan year after year until your child receives First Holy Communion.

As the child learns to read and becomes more independent, they can read the lessons on their own and at their own pace.

They can also write down the answers to the questions when they are comfortable writing. Then, you can go over the answers together.

If you would like more formal and detailed instructions on implementing and using the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism, then read on! I have created a simple lesson plan for you to use with your child.

First Holy Communion Preparation Lessons PDF

The First Holy Communion Preparation Lessons PDF will walk you through exactly how to use the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism to prepare your child to receive the sacrament of First Holy Communion.

The lesson plans will allow you to:

Teach your child the faith with a simple method and structure.
Choose the prayers that you wish for your child to learn. A checklist of suggested prayers is included.
Go through the entire St. Joseph’s Catechism at your own pace.
Go over the end of lesson questions with your child. An answer key is included.
Help you lay a solid foundation for your child by helping him or her memorize and learn all of the catechism questions included in the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism.

Here are the lesson plans in the Amazing Catechists shop for family and classroom use. The plans also contain an answer to key to all of the questions in the New St. Jospeph First Communion Catechism.

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.