Thursday Evening
Thursday Evening
(Establish a prayerful atmosphere for the family—a quiet place with dimmed lighting or light a candle, or soft music—whatever works for your family.)
Opening Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to remember to be respectful and reverent every time we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. Amen.
Bible Reading: The gospel of John 6:52–59
(Allow a few moments of silence to think about the reading.)
Reflection (child, parent, or older sibling reads):
The resurrected Jesus continues to remind us of the “living bread” of Jesus in Holy Communion. In our bible reading today, Jesus makes some wonderfully clear and strong statements in answering the questions of those around him. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” It is easy to see why Holy Communion is the center of the Catholic faith. The most important grace of receiving Holy Communion is the very personal, close union it gives us with Jesus. He remains in us and we remain in him. Jesus is just as excited to have us in him as we are to have Jesus in us! We use this special time of closeness with Jesus to talk to him about the things that are most important to us: things we may be afraid about, things we are happy about, things we may be upset about, things we hope will happen, things we are thankful for that did happen—Jesus wants to hear it all. That is why we have quiet prayer time after receiving Holy Communion. We want to make the most of this special time of union with Jesus.
Discussion: Discuss with your child any questions or fears he/she may have about receiving Holy Communion. Have each family member discuss things they do or can do to help increase the ‘specialness’ of their personal time with Jesus after receiving Holy Communion.
Focus: Candles are often used as symbols of unity. Put a candle (perhaps your child’s baptismal candle or the votive candle) next to your picture of the Jesus. Have your child light the candle during prayer time each night as a reminder of the special union he/she will begin to share with Christ on Saturday morning with First Holy Communion.
Final Prayer: (Child offers a final prayer on behalf of the family. Other family members then offer a prayer for God’s blessing on the child for his/ her First Communion.) You can end with a Hail Mary or Our Father as a family. Amen.