With the ongoing pandemic and shelter-in-place restrictions, almost every aspect of our lives has changed, including major events such as graduations, showers, birthday parties, Confirmations, weddings, and First Holy Communions. For many children, a First Eucharist retreat is part of their preparation at the parish. Since the present crisis precludes such gatherings, I offer some suggestions for doing a First Eucharist retreat at home, in today’s episode of Pop-Up Catechesis.
Here are some resources to help you with your at-home First Eucharist retreat. The key is not to make it too formal or rigid as far as structure; just make it a day focused on a handful of activities you select to create anticipation for and understanding of the Eucharist.
- First Eucharist: Ideas to Nurture a Lifetime of Faith
- A Prayer for You and Your Child Celebrating First Eucharist
- An Overview of the Mass
- Invitation to a Meal (With a Reflection for You and Your Child Celebrating First Eucharist)
- First Holy Communion Novena for Families to Pray Together
- Approved Recipes for Eucharistic Bread
- Personal Testimonies about Eucharist
- Easy First Communion Cards
- First Holy Communion Cookies
- Jesus in the Eucharist Art Project
Hi there! I love the First Communion Novena and am planning on sharing it with my families. Do you by chance already have this in Spanish? Thank you!
Hi Sefanit and thanks for your email. I’m glad you like the First Communion Novena. Unfortunately, I do not have this available in Spanish. Wish I could be of more help!
Thanks for these great resources. We have many students who have come to us (k-8 school) in the past couple of years that are deficient with their Sacraments (Baptism, Reconciliation and First Eucharist)- these children are often past the ages that they would normally receive the Sacraments. And we also have found that our Faith Formation basically took two years off with the pandemic so many students in our community are also lacking preparation/formation. With an increasing trend of students leaving public schools and joining Catholic Schools, please consider creating more resources to target these students/families. I realize much of the ‘home school’ type of resources are appropriate, but our families don’t think of themselves as homeschoolers. Thanks for all of your work. Blessings
Thanks for sharing, Bob, and for your encouragement for us to continue creating new and innovative resources to meet the changing needs of the People of God!