Over a hundred years ago, a little girl in northern France made her first communion. She had prepared for it; she had looked forward to it with excitement. And the day finally came. This is how she described the first time she received Jesus. “I felt that I was loved, and I said to Jesus, ‘I love you and I give myself to you forever...’ “It was a fusion: Jesus and I were no longer two, I had vanished in him as a drop of water vanishes in the ocean. Jesus alone remained.” She ended her description of her first communion by recalling the joy she felt that day – and the joy she experienced every time she received Christ in the Eucharist. Today that little girl is one of the most famous saints in the Catholic Church – St Therese of Lisieux. She illustrates that joy flows from the certainty of being infinitely loved by God. And every time we receive the Eucharist we receive a living reminder of God’s love for us. We too can say: “I know that I am loved. And that certainty brings a joy that nothing can take away, because I am safe in the hands of Jesus.” (Source: resurrection2.org)
This Sunday, the twenty-two of our Parish children receiving the Sacrament of First Eucharist will be able to experience this same joy. We pray that for them, this is just the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Jesus, and they too will always be able to say with certainty - because of this ongoing relationship - “I know that I am loved.” Please join them for morning tea in the Community Centre.
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