Celebrate THIS Eucharist

The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C 
First Communion Liturgy ~ Saint Gabriel the Archangel Parish
April 17, 2016

Link to the Sunday's Scripture Readings
Hear the Gospel ~ Hear the Homily

We are here to celebrate with these young people who have gathered together after lots of preparation. You’ve talked long and hard in class about First Communion haven’t you? Learned about how the Eucharist is the true presence of Christ. That’s really important isn’t it? It is a wonderful event that has brought us here and it is good that we are here. [Asked one of the First Communion girls to read a prayer card]

This prayer is a traditional gift for priest when there are ordained. It is a helpful reminder that as many times as a priest celebrates Mass it must never become a routine; the priest cannot serve God worthily and well by becoming complacent in his prayer at Mass. It may often be basically the same, but it’s never just a routine. I think something similar can be, and perhaps should be said by all who come to Mass:

It is easy for anyone to become complacent even when faced time and again with the miracle of the Eucharist. I hope that keeping this in mind might change one’s perspective for many of us. I think it's not just the priests who have to make sure that they do not lose their zeal for the Mass; to not make it just a routine, just a bunch of words to be said. It's important for all of us to remember that we are all essentially like these wonderful children coming before the Lord's Table for the very first time. It is important that we gather together as a community and see these children together, to recognize them for having prepared to receive the Eucharist. I have often heard it said, and it may be the case with you as well, ‘oh to have the faith of a child, if I could just believe like they did, like they do, if I had that kind of faith life would be so much simpler!’ So I asked you: why not? Why not have faith like a child? In our Gospel for today we are called to be like sheep, we are called to listen to the voice of the Lord and to follow him. We do this not to be ignorant, or complacent, but to see through the eyes of a child. We hear at other places in the Gospel that to enter into heaven we must be like little children. We question it's true, and natural, we all will grow in our faith, grow in our desire to understand. Nevertheless, in the end, we return time and time again to receive our Lord from this altar, to receive our Lord as often and as best as possible.

The children all wear these wonderful white garments, particularly the girls are all dressed in white. In baptism we are told to:

See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of Heaven.

We help one another to do that, we help one another to maintain the purity of Innocence that was there at the moment of our baptism when all of our sins, even original sin itself, is washed away. The priests, deacons, and servers all wear white garments to celebrate Mass. In fact all of us could come wearing white every time we celebrate the Eucharist together; but on the first occasion these children especially have the honor of dressing up in their suits and white dresses to receive that which sustains us through our entire lives and helps us bring our dignity unstained to heaven.

I had the privilege and honor recently of assisting one of our elderly into the arms of God. When you're at that stage, when a person is almost ready to give up their hold on life, it can be difficult to receive the Eucharist. So there with that man in his final days I broke the Eucharistic host in half and showed the half to him and asked ‘would this be okay?’ He just kind of glared at me, so I broke it into quarter pieces. ‘Is this okay’ I asked again, but he maintained his look of uncertainty. Finally I broke a small bit off the corner and I placed it on the back of his lips so that it could simply dissolve. That little bit of Eucharist was exactly what he needed in those moments. That little bit contained the entirety of God’s love for him and us all. We call the rite of giving the Eucharist to the dying viaticum, which means food for the journey, it's not only the end of life journey but our journey through life that Christ sustains us for. We all, at our baptism receive our vocational calling from God. God may call us by name to the married life, to the priesthood, to the religious life, to the single life; all of us are called by God to follow him in our own way. This call is maintained through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Confirmation strengths our understanding of that call, but that calling is kept alive by the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We hear that call from God throughout our lives and we return to the Sacrament of the Eucharist time and time again; we can be more like these little children who will receive our Lord for the first time today.

Saint Gabriel, First Communion 2016

Children, if you are anything like me you'll go home and start taking a tally: I received the Eucharist twice, I received Eucharist three times... I've heard it often from people when they reflect on their First Communion and I did the same. I got a couple months in and then forgot where the paper was, but I came back to it later and put a bunch of marks on it figuring ‘that's about right.’ Christmas came and I realized that I had and would continue to receive the Eucharist countless times. The tally was important for a while but the living out the mystery of the Eucharist became more important the older I got.

We receive our Lord over and over again, and each time we receive this tiny bit of the Body of Christ it has the ability, and the promise, to change our entire lives. Celebrate this Eucharist like it is your first Eucharist, your last Eucharist, you're only Eucharist.