Sheila Sims Iding
It starts the first part of April. It starts in morning prayer circle those April mornings. We start praying for the second graders who will be making their First Communion this month. I am the one who starts it but somebody has a cousin, or a sibling or a neighbor or a friend who goes to daycare with them…and they start praying too.
We talk about the Last Supper still fresh in our mind from Holy Week. We talk about how that was the very first Eucharist and thousands of years later, we still get to celebrate Eucharist. We talk about how there are only 7 sacraments and First Holy Eucharist is one of them.
We talk about adoration and the special cross on the altar…and the presence of Christ. We talk about the special “gold box” and even more special contents of that box. We talk about how in second grade they will learn all about the “body and blood of Christ”. We talk about how they study it all year because it is so important and then in April, they make their First Communion.
In the spring, when the Care Corner Kids are in charge of mass, we always add a special intention “For the second graders making their first communion, that Christ may lead them to His table of love.” We talk about how important it is to pray for someone who is preparing for such a special time in their little Christian lives.
Then as the week approaches, we make the second graders a poster. We hang it on our board for a day to remind us to pray for them (and to admire how pretty it looks.) Then the next day we deliver it to the second grade classrooms and they think it is pretty special. And it is.
But...I tell them the most special thing is next year at this time it will be them making their first communion. Next year they will study about precious body and blood of Christ. Next year they will be the ones getting ready for this special day. Next year a new group of Care Corner Kids will be praying for the “second graders making their first communion” and the prayers will be for them.
I tell them next year at this time, they will know we are praying for them in Care Corner. Next year we will make them a poster and make a special delivery to their classroom. I even tell them they will probably forget all about the poster until two little first graders knock on their door and hand the poster to their teacher and then they will remember and go “Ahhaa… THE poster!…They are praying for us.”.
And then I make the promise. I promise that I will be there for them on that special day when they make their first communion. I promise that I will be in the last pew of the church on that sacred day. I tell them that I will sit in the last pew to watch them walk in and see their smiles and give them a “God bless you” smile back. I tell them it’s such an important day for them, that I wouldn’t dare to miss it.
And this week when I saw them at school and they remembered “Last pew, right, Mrs. Iding?” I knew I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And this morning when the little girl waiting to process up saw me and blew me a kiss, I knew the value of the promise. And at the end of mass today when they sang “The Summons”, I thought of how we sang that together everyday during Lent in Care Corner…and my heart turned to this special day...this promise...this last pew...this year's Care Corner Kids... this time…next year.