Catechetical Newsletter

(Click here for a list of previous articles to read.)

Blessing or Burden?
By Kate Ristow

Required vs. invited?
Have to vs. able to?
Obligation vs. opportunity?
Duty vs. privilege?

Our response to different choices in life is shaped by our attitudes, our understanding of their meaning, and how we perceive them. We can view our Catholic responsibilities as sacred calls or oppressive regulations. It’s up to us—a product of God’s gift of free will.

Easter Duty
As the Easter season begins, we recall the Precept of the Church that requires us to receive the Eucharist at least once a year—our “Easter duty.” As hard as it may be for us to believe, there was a time when the Eucharist so awed some believers that they did not feel worthy enough to partake in Christ’s Body and Blood. It was enough to simply pay homage to the Eucharist with praise and silent adoration.

Adult Formation
The Faith Connection®

Whole Community Catechesis
Online Resource

Sacrament Preparation
Eucharist and Reconciliation

The Bread of Life
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting one of the most important documents of Vatican II, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church or Lumen Gentium (“Light of All Nations”), reminds us that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life” (#1324). Receiving the Eucharist unites us with Jesus and gives us the grace to live as his followers. The Bread of Life nourishes us and gives us the subsistence we need to be Christ for others.

Today we recognize the opportunity to receive Holy Communion at Mass as a blessing. We honor Jesus’ true presence in the bread and the wine we share. We celebrate the catechumens and candidates, now neophytes, who received the Body of Christ for the first time at the Easter Vigil. We delight in watching First Communicants approach the table of the Lord. Hopefully, as we watched them prepare to receive the Eucharist for the first time, our faith and appreciation for the Eucharist was renewed. Click here to visit the RCL Sacraments site.

During these next seven weeks, use the ideas below to focus attention on our understanding of Jesus’ gift of the Eucharist and the many blessings Christ’s life in us brings.

1. Instead of planning year-end grade level liturgies, invite parents and their children to attend a special Family Mass. Build the theme of the Mass around the title, “We Give Thanks for the Eucharist.”
2. Encourage catechists to sign up to visit church with their class to pray before the Blessed Sacrament during one of their final sessions. Before they begin the Eucharistic adoration, suggest that they point out the tabernacle and the sanctuary lamp and have the children recall what these sacred objects are and their meaning. When the students return to the classroom, ask catechists to lead a discussion on the meaning of the Eucharist in the students’ lives.
3. Have students complete the worksheet to grow in their understanding of the role of your parish ministers of Holy Communion: (page 86, Grade 6 Blest Are We Faith &Word Parish Edition Student Text— “Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion”).

Have students create cards to distribute to RCIA neophytes and First Communicants celebrating their new blessing of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.   

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