My grandson just made his First Communion. His class of 32 second graders was probably an average-sized First Communion group for that parish in a city with multiple parishes. My wife, who spent 21 years as a Catholic school second grade teacher and 16 years as principal, never had a class that big, but we live in a much smaller town. When I made my First Communion 53 years ago, I was a class of one. It was a different era, of course, and the emphasis in our parish at the time was parents teaching their children, an interview with Father, and then the children making their First Communion with their family present among the congregation.
In contrast, my grandson’s big day was an event. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, cousins, all dressed up in their finest. We grandparents showed up in church an hour before Mass to save two pews for our expected crew. The children did the readings and offered the prayers of the faithful. My grandson, Michael, was among the offertory gift bearers. Father came down to the pews to give his homily directly to the First Communicants. Afterward, there were group photos, family photos and a quick trip home to get the party started. And Michael’s dear Aunt Kate, his mother’s sister and the more outspoken of my two daughters, bemoaned the fact that she did not get to sing “I Am the Bread of Life” because it wasn’t chosen this particular Mass.
Her disappointment resonated with me. I like that hymn, too. The lyrics are based on the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, where Jesus tells his disciples that he is the Bread of Life, and unless we eat his Flesh and drink his Blood, we cannot have life within us. And the song’s refrain is the clincher: “And I (meaning Jesus) will raise you up … on the last day.”
Isn’t that what the Holy Eucharist is all about? I often think of it as “the Second Humbling.” Jesus, truly God, humbled himself to become human, and then he humbled himself even more to become our Food and Drink, the very sustenance we need to become more like him and eventually join him in his everlasting Kingdom. If ever the phrase “You are what you eat” was more appropriate than right here, I don’t know how it could be. By eating his Body and drinking his Blood, we are drawn into real communion with Christ, so that, united to him, we may participate in his divine life. We are prepared for heaven. The Church reminds us that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, so faithfully and reverently receiving it is, indeed, our preparation in this life for the life to come.
As I mentioned earlier, I made my First Communion in 1973. I actually became a Christian in 1977. Let me explain. I was born into a Catholic family, baptized before I was a month old, raised Catholic, sent to Catholic school, and "made my sacraments." By 1977, I was 12 years old and, like many (most?) 12-year-olds, I knew everything. We lived a block from church, my mother was the church organist, and so I spent a lot of Masses volunteered by my mom as a substitute altar server, filling in when others didn’t show up. I could do it in my sleep. But religion? Faith? Whatever. It was a woman’s world. My dad obviously went to church to please my mother.
Then came that fateful Sunday afternoon when the family gathered in the dining room for dinner, and my sister and I were goofing around during the grace before the meal, over-enunciating our words and just generally being goofy and a little full of ourselves. Suddenly, my father slammed his hand down on the table, shocking us all, and slowly and calmly said, in the most even and sincere voice I have ever heard in my life, “You will not make fun of MY God at MY table.” Dinner that day was eaten in silence. I then went to my room, severely wounded by my dad’s simple but profound sentence. Not just God, HIS God. I recognized that meant relationship. At some point in his life, my dad chose God. He claimed him. He loved and worshiped him. That very day, I chose to do the same.
I have tried to emulate my dad ever since. Who am I? That I exist in the first place is because of God and his creative love. I constantly pray for the grace to avoid sin and remain in that glorious love.
On my grandson’s First Communion Day, I prayed to MY God that Michael would claim him as well. I pray that we all do, and then live our lives in preparation for meeting our Lord and God face to face, to praise and worship him in joy forever.
Mike Karpus is an editor for a news media company with a national online and print footprint. He was born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and has spent his entire career in the news industry. Mike is currently vice chair of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School Board of Education in Greenville, Michigan, a member of the board of Montcalm County Habitat for Humanity, vice president of the Roger B. Chaffee Memorial Scholarship Board of Directors, and a District Deputy of the Michigan Knights of Columbus. Most of all, he’s just a regular guy trying to love and serve his God in this life so that he can be with him in the life to come.
Photo by Mary Ann Zanoff on Unsplash
