(Today’s homily was a dialogue with children gathered at the steps to the altar. They would, in a few minutes, receive their “First Communion.”)
Why are you all dressed up today?
First communion
When do you usually get dressed up?
Parties … birthday parties … sometimes for church … (Christmas/Easter)
Do you like birthday parties?
Yea
Whose birthday are we getting ready to celebrate in a few weeks?
Jesus
Why do we celebrate his birthday?
God became man … to save us
What other kinds of birthdays do we celebrate in the church?
Easter … when Jesus rose from the dead … celebrate his resurrection … his birth into new life … we celebrate every week at mass … or even every day if you go on weekdays
Is there another special kind of birthday we celebrate in the church?
Pentecost … the “birthday of the church” … when God sent us the Holy Spirit in a very special way
When did the Holy Spirit first come to you in a special way?
At baptism … dressed in special clothes then, but probably don’t remember it … may have pictures of it
At Easter we celebrate Jesus’ coming to us in a special way …
When does he come to each one of you in a special way?
At first communion … at every communion … comes in the appearance of bread and wine … but what does that mean?
Does the communion host usually look like bread?
No
What kind of bread do you like to eat?
White bread, dark bread, Italian/French bread, tortillas ! Bagels ! cinnamon toast
… all of it is bread but it all looks different, but it is all still bread.
When Fr. Ed prays over the bread and wine, he asks that the Holy Spirit comes and turns the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. And just as Jesus promised at the Last Supper with his friends, the stuff that makes bread – bread – is changed into the body and blood of Jesus. It may look the same, but what really makes bread – bread – is no longer there. Instead, it is Jesus who is really there. And that is going to happen in a few minutes from now.
Besides today being the day for your first communion, what feast day or special day is it in the church?
Christ the king … our readings were all about Jesus being called a king.
What do you know about kings?
probably not much … main King now a-days is Burger King ! … Kings weren’t evil … they were good … Kings protected their people from harm … Kings in hard times, gave food to eat … Jesus is Christ the King … a special person who is to protect us, help us, feed us
You’re lucky to receive your First Communion on today, because you’ll be able to remember every year when you received your First Communion, every year we celebrate the feast of Christ the King and you can remember that this is when you first received Jesus in a very special way.
I HAVE ONLY A COUPLE MORE QUESTIONS FOR YOU. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE … “FINDING NEMO”? DID YOU LIKE IT? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?
… a father who went searching for his son who had been taken away from him … father kept searching for his lost son, no matter what
WHAT DO WE CALL GOD?
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
God first comes to us at Baptism as the Holy Spirit and stays with us. God comes to us in Communion as the Son and stays with us. But sometimes, we run away from God, when we do things we know God doesn’t want us to do. Sometimes, it’s like we were lost, stolen away from God, our Father, by the things we do that are wrong. But God is just like Nemo’s father. He keeps searching for us until he finds us. And just like Nemo’s father, he has help. And his help is even better than having Dory. Our Father has the help of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.
In a few minutes he is going to be with you in a very special way. He’s going to be with you when you receive Communion with your family and friends. And it’s important you have that family and those friends around you here today. Remember, when Nemo was waiting for his father in that fish tank, he had his friends around him to help him out. We have friends and relatives around us here today, who have been with us while God, our Father, is looking for us. Now it’s time to allow him to find us. Now is the time to prepare for Communion, your First Communion.
Christ the King; November 22, 2003
Children’s Lectionary (readings not used directly)