Bread of Life

On Saturday, Max received his First Holy Communion! I am almost at a loss for words to describe the feeling of this day. Max has a joy and a love of life that are contagious, and when he is excited for something, he nearly vibrates with anticipation. He swept us all up in his excitement and carried us through an amazing, beautiful day!

His preparations included a full day retreat at our church on Friday, so I dropped him off in the morning and picked him up six hours later. Six hours! It felt like an eternity to me... but my husband reminded me that if we weren't homeschooling, he would be gone that much every day. Ha, good point honey. During the retreat, the second graders had prayer times, craft times, work time in the Atrium, and the opportunity to go to confession again. Max told me he went, but "I don't think I had any mortal sins to confess, Mom." No, sweetie, you probably didn't.

We filled at least a whole pew at church with family and friends who were there to witness and support Max; Auntie Monica and Uncle Glenn, Paul's parents, my parents, all of my grandparents, Uncle Tony and Auntie Catherine, Uncle Ben, Godparents Aaron and Emily... and of course, a bunch of kids and cousins.

All throughout Mass, Max kept leaning over and asking, "When is it time for Communion?" even though he knows the Mass like the back of his hand. When the moment came, he approached the Deacon and was handed the host. For a minute, he held it up and just looked at it, as if he was unsure if he was actually allowed to do something so special... He looked up at me and I gave him a nod. With a big grin, he received Jesus for the first time!

After Mass we took pictures and then went home to continue the celebration. Max kept telling me how exciting Mass was, how he wants to start going to daily Mass, how "It didn't look or taste very special, but it WAS SO special! It was really Jesus!" His continued excitement had a profound impact on me, one that I'm hoping will last. It is easy to forget how great is the gift we receive each Mass, but seeing the Eucharist through the eyes of a child was a powerful reminder to me. Thank you, Max, for your witness! Thank you, Jesus, for your gift to my son and to his whole family!