FIRST HOLY COMMUNION
Next Saturday, April 29th, our Second Grade Girls and Boys in Annunziata Parish School of Religion will receive the Real Presence of the Risen Christ for the first time. The annual occasion of First Holy Communion is an opportunity for all of us to take part in the Eucharistic Revival now in process. This Eucharistic Revival is not a marketing campaign, a program, or a strategic plan. It is a prophetic invitation issued by God, through our Bishops, to every Catholic in our country to come to a deeper understanding and commitment to Jesus truly present in Holy Communion. For Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven…anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL
Many of us have been in situations where the subject of faith comes up in conversation and you start out trying to evangelize but end up trying to win an argument. Let's use the example of the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion —
- Don’t assume you know what someone is thinking just because they are not actively living their Catholic Faith. Making judgments escalates arguments and diminishes true understanding. Ask good questions — ask them why they believe what they believe. Keep asking “why” to get to the root cause. We want to open a door rather than push them through a door.
- My attitude can set the tone on how the conversation will go. We all have baggage, no one is perfect. We all need some level of healing. Don’t focus on people’s mistakes. Try to establish a tone of mercy and compassion, regardless of how hard someone may be trying to argue. This is not a game that we are trying to win. Rather, like all of us, this is the soul of a person in need of transformation.
- Today, many people say, “the truth for me is….” They see truth as a concept that is adaptable to justify their current lifestyle. Introduce to them the idea that the Truth is really a person — Jesus (“I am the way and the truth and the life”). Truth is not relative, it is absolute — it is true for all of us, over all of time. People are influenced by the culture. People may not know that God is an option. Truth leads people to Jesus!