First Holy Communion: “Finding Jesus”

Using History to explain the Presence

The thrust of my story, ‘Finding Jesus’, is that Chris and Shani both come to realise that the tabernacle of the Old Testament is similar to the tabernacle in their parish church. Both have the same name. Inside the Old Testament Tabernacle the Presence of God, the Holy Trinity, was in the ten commandment stones. Or to put it another way, because God made the ten commandment slabs, they oozed The Presence of God= the Holy Trinity. And wherever there is one Person of the Holy Trinity, the other two are always present too!

The tabernacle in Chris and Shani's parish church contains the Real Presence of Jesus in the ciborium. They both realise this connection as they watch Fr. Wymer replace the ciborium into the church Tabernacle.



Who am I Receiving?

In my story, Chris is not quite old enough to receive Holy Communion, but you can see his curiosity and his joyful anticipation of tasting the Eucharist! Chris already has some understanding of the consecration, having been taken to mass every Sunday. However, this particular Sunday, having been involved in his classes Tabernacle project and having asked his teacher a pertinent question, God has primed Chris to take his understanding to a deeper level. Little Chris understands more deeply that this is Jesus’ Body in the Eucharist…disguised as bread…the Real Presence of Jesus, alive and kicking.

My Hope for your child

So, my hope is that as your child listens to the story he/she will also see the connection, just as little Chris and little Shani did. Hopefully, they will also see the enormity of what is happening in the supernatural – beyond the veil. I hope that your child will start to see the enormous lengths that Jesus (and the Holy Trinity) has taken so that He can be as close to them as possible – inside their body, flooding them with grace upon grace to become more holy and full of The Holy Spirit.

Whether your child is 3 years old or 6 years old, it will probably take a few readings before they make the connection. It is, after all, a story about one of the sacraments, and all sacraments are a mystery. I have done my best to make the sacramental mystery of the Eucharist accessible to all.