My Son’s First Holy Communion

What a week. My cup truly runneth over!

The sun has been waking me up early every morning, shining through the white mini-blinds on my east-facing bedroom windows. In the winter I just want to snuggle down deep under the covers and go back to sleep, but this summer-promising sun wakes me up with a kiss. I get up, make a big pot of coffee for us and our houseguests, and look for things to do.

Having spent the previous week scouring corners of my house long untouched, it is a pleasure to walk around putting away stray items left around the previous evening. I find better places for plants and other decorative items. There is always a fresh sweeping required of the floor and another load of laundry to be done.

I was also thankful that I had done my spring planting early, as the rain last week disallowed me to work outside and forced me to concentrate on the inside. I might have been tempted to re-stain the back deck if it had been sunny. I am glad I did not!

At the Communion rehearsal Friday night, I told my old fellow religion teachers that I was coming back to teach the eighth grade in the fall. They laughed, chuckled, guffawed. They were relieved to have the school year over and thought I was a little crazy to take on the eighth graders, but glad to have me back.

The Director of Religious Education told about the threats of storms on the previous weekend. They had all the children lined up to process from the parish center to the church at the 9:00 Mass. They opened the door and a torrential rain had just started. They closed the door, said the prayer, and opened it again. The rain had stopped! The rest of the day was sunny.

For our weekend as well, storms threatened through the morning, but then the sun came out. My husband dried off the newly-built tables and benches before we left for the 1:00 Mass. The ceremony was beautiful, and of course I cried when I saw my son receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time.

Taking pictures outside was a little crazy, and I lost my toddler for a few minutes. She was with relatives, but was crying at having been separated briefly from me. We finally took our places to pose with our pastor.

Half our guests were children, so I had brought a bin of baby toys from the garage and spread them throughout the living room for the younger set. The older ones quickly found their way outside onto swings. We all were charmed by a red Radio Flyer wagon loaded with little girls, being pulled by a strong young princess dressed all in pink. Meanwhile, older boys were doing creative things with sticks and pinecones they had culled from the yard.

A party truly is the company you invite. A clean house and good food just sets the stage; the people really make the day what it is. And so I have my guests to thank for a wonderful party.

Painting above: Communion of the Apostles, Fra Angelico, 1451-3