Do This in Memory: A Parish Preparation Programme for First
Eucharist
PARISH OF ST AIDAN’S CATHEDRAL 2013/2014
Parents Meeting: Tuesday 30th Sept. 2014
Opening Prayer:
Loving God,
We call to mind the children who will prepare for First Eucharist during the
coming year and all who care for them. We ask your blessing on all of them
and on all of us gathered here. May we always walk as children of the light and
be prepared to share that light with those whom we meet.
PURPOSE OF PROGRAMME
The programme is designed to facilitate the active involvement of parents,
parish leaders and the wider parish community in the preparation for First
Eucharist.
WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?
‘FAITH GIVES LIFE AND GIVES US A FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD OUR
WHOLE LIVES!’
‘Here is a chance for parents to make your faith alive in a way that goes hand
in hand with your child’
‘This is a chance for all of us to reconnect with the gift of our own faith. That
we want faith for our children: a personal, living relationship with God. Jesus
wants to give himself to these kids’. Having faith is not a burden!’.
FR RAGHEED GANNI: Murdered for the Faith in
Mosul, Iraq on 7th June 2007.
‘For us Christians in Iraq, the terrorists
take life but the Eucharist gives it back’.
‘At times I wake up filled with fear but
when I celebrate Mass and hold the host
at the altar I know that it is not I who am
holding him. It is he who is holding me’.
FOUR CORNERSTONES
1. The sacramental preparation of children is the responsibility of the home, school
and parish working together in partnership.
2.
The work of sacramental preparation begins long before the First Eucharist
Celebration.
3. The celebration of First Eucharist is a sacred and important moment on a long journey of
faith development. Together with Baptism and Confirmation, it opens the door to full
membership of the Christian community. It is not an end in itself.
4.
The sacramental preparation of our children must always be seen as one element of
the broader task of whole community catechesis.
‘Our experience tells us that the faith of children is best nourished when home, school and
parish work together in partnership. Firstly and most importantly, children learn about faith
in the home. Their faith is supported in school by the hard work of teachers and chaplains,
and by both priests and people in the wider parish community.’
(Nurturing our Children’s Faith, 2006)
Outline of Programme
•
Nine Sundays, 9.30 am
– Eight prior to First Eucharist
– One after the celebration:
Dates:
30th Sept. 2014: Parents Meeting for First Communion, St Aidan’s School, 7.30pm
19th October 2014: Enrolment Mass: 28th Sunday Ordinary Time
23rd November 2014: Feast Day of Christ the King
21st December 2014: 4th Sunday of Advent
18th January 2015: 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
15th February 2015: 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
1st March 2015: 2nd Sunday of Lent
Thursday 26th March 2015, 7.30pm: First Confession and Parish Reconciliation Service.
29th March 2015: Palm Sunday
26th April 2015: 4th Sunday of Easter
Saturday 23rd May 2015: First Holy Communion
ENROLMENT SUNDAY (19th October 2014)
• Parents and children are
– Presented to the community
– Invited to promise to participate in the programme
– Asked to renew their baptismal promises with the parish
community
– Presented with a candle for use in family prayer
Masses with Children
• How do we help children become more familiar with the Mass
and encourage them to participate more fully in it?
• Participation not Performance!
Guidelines for the Masses
on Do This in Memory Sundays
• Each Sunday of the Programme
– Children sit with their parents
– Readings from Children’s Book of Readings
– The children may be invited to the ambo to listen to the
Gospel
– Homily directed to the children
– Presentation of the Gifts
– Blessing of the children at Communion time
– Appropriate Music
On some Sundays of the Programme
Entrance Procession
Invitation to the children to come and stand around the altar for the
Eucharistic Prayer
Invitation to lead the Our Father
Dismissal Rite and Procession
THUMB
• Resource for use at home and at Mass
– Promises for Enrolment Mass
– Explanation of the various elements of the Mass
– The Rite of the Mass: The Missal
– Activity Sheets: KIDSTUFF
Grapevine
• Each month the parents will receive a copy of Grapevine after
Mass. The Newsletter will include the following:
– Thought for the Month
– Let’s Pray Together
– Something to Reflect on
– Gospel Reading for the following month
– Family Prayer Space
– Saints, Holy Days and Catholic Traditions
– Mass Responses and do we sit, stand or kneel?
– Things to Remember
EACH PARISH WILL NEED
A group of volunteer parents who will
Meet once a month to plan for the next Sunday of the
Programme.
Work of
Programme Planning Group
– Maintain ongoing contact with parents
– Invite volunteer parents to receive, light and return the
candles to children each Sunday
– Organise parents and children to present the gifts of bread
and wine each Sunday
– Compose the Prayer of the Faithful for each Sunday and
invite a member of the parent body to read
– Organise volunteers to distribute the Grapevine at the end
of Mass
– Liaise with choir and school
– Help plan the First Eucharist celebration
PARENTAL COMMITMENT
• To be at Mass regularly with your child and particularly on the
Sundays of the programme
• To pray with them at home
• To enhance your participation in the programme and deepen
your own understanding of the Mass by reading THUMB and
the Grapevine Newsletter with your child
• To reflect seriously about the celebration of this sacrament
God our Father,
We ask you blessing upon us as we gather this evening. We rejoice that we are
blessed and called together to work in your name. We pray that we can
respond generously to this opportunity to hand on our faith in your goodness
to our children. Bless and protect them as they grow in faith and prepare for
their First Holy Communion. May they grow in love for you and the parish of St
Aidan’s to which they belong. May the sees be sown today of a love for the
Eucharist that will bear fruit throughout their lives.
Glory be to the Father…. ST AIDAN PRAY FOR US
PARENTS COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS
Name
Address
Mobile Number
Email