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Image by Eric Mok

First Holy Communion Preparation

First Holy Communion Preparation 

First Communion 2023

First Communion Parent and Child Meditation Nights

CYF families will come from 5:30-6:30

Prince of Peace families from 6:30-7:30

October 18, 

November 15

March 7

April 18

​

CYF

First Communion Retreat and

Reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation

May 6, 9:00-5:00

First Holy Communion Mass

May 7

POP First Communion

Retreat

Friday, April 28th 5:00-6:30 

this is for parent and child. We will meet in the Church.

First Communion Mass 

Saturday, April 29th, 4pm at St. John Paul II

Updated information for
Families with children at Prince of Peace School

In order to be able to participate in the school May Crowning Celebration

 and because our Parish celebration of First Reconciliation will take place after the new First Eucharist Date,

Children will make the Sacrament of Reconciliation with their classmates at Prince of Peace.  The school retreat is a requirement for this option.

FIRST RECONCILIATION at Prince of Peace

Retreat - Saturday, October 22nd 10:00 to noon - this is for parent and child. Please meet in the Church.

First Reconciliation Service - Wednesday, November 9th 6:30-8:00 or Saturday, November 12th 10:00-11:30 am (you will choose one)

You should choose your preferred Reconciliation Service via the following link.  DO NOT CHOOSE A FIRST EUCHARIST DATE THROUGH PRINCE OF PEACE.

 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45AFAC2BA4F8CE9-prince1

 

FIRST COMMUNION at John Paul II

Retreat - Friday, April 28th 5:00-6:30 - this is for parent and child. We will meet in the Church.

First Communion Mass - Saturday, April 29th, 4pm at St. John Paul II

 

The Parent Child Meditation Nights will remain the same:

Prince of Peace families from 6:30-7:30

 

A copy of your child's baptismal certificate needs to be turned into the JP2 Parish office prior to the Reconciliation retreat on Oct. 22.  We will forward a copy to Prince of Peace.

What is the Sacrament of Holy Communion?

The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.
The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all."
- Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1324-1326



The process of First Holy Communion Preparation at St. John Paul II uses the methodology of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. 
Children come weekly to journey with their catechist in our specially prepared environment, called the atrium, to grow in relationship with Jesus
through works and proclamations focused on
the two pillars of Scripture and Liturgy.

Preparation at St. John Paul II is typically a two year commitment, beginning in 1st grade, and ending in the spring semester of 2nd grade..

 

First Communion - What to Wear?

Image by Grant Whitty
BOYS
White dress shirt, with a tie and dress pants (any color) and nice shoes (no sneakers please).
A suit is optional. 

GIRLS
White dress or blouse. The dress or blouse must cover the back and shoulders (you should wear a white sweater over the dress if it has spaghetti straps).
A veil is optional.
When someone is baptized they are clothed in a white garment, which symbolizes that they have “put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27) – they no longer suffer the nakedness caused by Original Sin but have now become a child of God. 
 
Having become a child of God clothed with the white garment (also referred to as “the wedding garment” by the Church) the baptized child may now be admitted “to the marriage supper of the Lamb” to receive the food of the new life, the Body and Blood of Christ. 
 
This white garment reappears many times in the course of one’s life in the Church: the white robes worn by the priest, deacon, and altar servers at Mass; the white dresses traditionally worn by girls celebrating their first holy communion; the white gown worn by the bride at a wedding; the white pall draped over a coffin at a funeral, etc. 
 
What the children wear when receiving their first communion should recall this baptismal garment. The color white is especially significant – please emphasize this with your child when picking out something to wear. White represents holiness, purity, and the fact that we are called to be the “light of the world” – we wear white to remember that we have been clothed in Christ, and when people look at us they should see Him.  
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