May 21, 2017
Everybody is rejoicing today, because it is your First Holy Communion Day – a very special day for the ten of you here in the first row. You have been waiting for receiving the Holy Communion like your parents and older siblings had done before you. You have prepared yourselves intensively. I am convinced your catechists were a good and reliable help for you on your way. Today, as every Sunday, we come together here in the All Saints church as a congregation, like a family, to take part in a meal: share a loaf of bread and a cup of wine. In just a few moments, the bread and wine we offer to God will be offered back to us as the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We will be invited to eat at His table like His friends were invited to eat with Jesus 2000 years ago. Today marks the first time you will come and eat, yet hopefully it will not be the last time. As the years go by and you grow into a teenager and then adulthood, the Eucharist, this common meal, this Sunday gathering can become an essential part of your growth. The many challenges you will face require a strong faith in Jesus’ love and friendship for you. The food that Jesus gives us helps us grow strong in love of God, and in the love of others such as parents, siblings, teachers, relatives, and friends. The most important message that Jesus says to us through the Eucharist is that God loves us and cares for us – without condition! God will never abandon us. When we come to God’s house and eat at God’s table, God’s love for us is made visible time and again, at every Eucharist. God’s love is so strong and deep that God is ever faithful to our needs. As God loves you with an unlimited love, God desires you to love and help others. This is not always easy. Many times in school, we don’t feel like being kind or helping others. We may not feel well: the test didn’t turn out as well as we expected; someone has hurt us and we are angry; maybe we have even been punished unfairly; perhaps we just want someone to listen to our side of the story. Yet we can still love and help others. This friendship with Jesus, symbolized in the Body and Blood of Jesus, can give us the strength to be kind to others even when we don’t feel like it. When you look at the life of Jesus, you see that many times Jesus was tired and hurt by others, yet he continued to help those who were in need; Jesus was punished unfairly, yet he never sought hurting others in return. He wanted to forgive them and love them. We are asked to do the same, just like Jesus. Not only do we take notice today of you boys and girls who will receive their first Holy Communion. We take notice and give thanks for all your families and friends and your catechists who are with us this morning. We are truly God’s family nourished by God’s love in the Eucharist. Parents, you are entrusted with the sacred vocation of continually nourishing your son or daughter in God’s way. Today you are asked to dedicate yourselves again to this mission by your reception of the Eucharist. In the many trials of your life - think back and remember if you have been sustained by the Eucharist, where you have been sustained by your friendship to Jesus, to God. Think back and remember if you found a way to express your friendship with God? Maybe by participating in the Eucharist? Today you will receive the Eucharist with your child. The family is the ‘little church’ which is empowered to help build up the Kingdom of God. Finally, to all of you who are to receive your first Holy Commu¬nion, there are three words that I want you all to pray many times as you receive Jesus in the Eucharist today. They are the three words that sum up everything we do at Mass: “Thank you, Jesus” ... for giving us your life, and for continuing to give us your life in the Eucharist. I ask you all to say in your hearts as you make your first Holy Communion, “Thank you, Jesus.” When the excitement of the day is all over, and you've opened your cards and gifts, and had a party and packed your clothes away and when you climb into bed tonight, remember this morning, and tell Jesus you love Him, and ask Him to bless your Mom and Dad, your sisters and brothers, your Grandmothers and Grandfathers, your aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and teachers and catechists. And be assured: you are important to Jesus now and always: God loves you and so do all of us!
Fr. Wolfgang Felber, SJ