What joy to know that you would like to prepare to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, either you, or your child. How blessed you are indeed!

The Eucharist, or Holy Communion as it is sometimes called, is the life blood of the Catholic throughout his or her life. Just as we need food to sustain our bodies, intellectual food to keep our minds growing, and the emotional food of good friends and a loving family, so too we need food for our soul. Food for our spirit. Food to nourish our hope. The Eucharist, which Jesus Himself ‘’invented’’, the evening before He died, is the main spiritual food of our spiritual journey because the Eucharist is JESUS Himself. He is the sustenance for our soul.

Before leaving us and returning to the Father, Jesus wanted to ensure that we were sure of His loving and intimate presence in our daily lives. He is present in many ways: through personal silence and prayer; by daily meditating Holy Scripture (the bible); in meeting the community of believers; when we are encountering the poor and the sick; in the glory of our beautiful nature! The kernel, the highlight of this divine encounter is in His Body and blood. We receive this every week, on Sunday. Some people commune every day!

People can receive the Eucharist, for the first time, at any age. Orthodox Christians give this sacrament to newborn baptized babies! The western Latin Church has opted to reserve the first of the many communions to the age of reason (7 or 8 years of age), so that they may better understand what they are doing. Adults who join the church receive this gift, “the source and summit of the Christian life” (1324, Catechism of the Catholic Church).