First Communion Day

"So Jesus said to them, 'Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his b lood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my b lood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my b lood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my b lood abide in me, and I in them.'" -John 6: 53-56

Joseph received his First Holy Communion on Saturday morning, May 3rd. He has been working hard all year to get ready for this big day. We prepared at home, and he participated in some activities with the religious education class at St. Jude's Parish on base. Last weekend, the religious education program held a preparatory retreat, in which Joseph was included.

Saturday morning, he, and all the other children, were very excited before Mass started. They were also very reverent and sweetly solemn throughout the Mass.

At first, Joseph wished his First Communion would be at Sunday Mass, but in the end, he thought it was very special to be able to receive Holy Communion two days in a row this weekend. Another nice thing about having the Mass on a Saturday morning was that the RE director and Fr. Jose could choose the readings. They chose John 6: 47-59 for the Gospel, and Father took the opportunity to give an excellent homily on the Real Presence. Very nice for both the children and their parents and guests.

Some photos from the day:

a blessing from Daddy before Mass



on the altar at the chapel


First Communion class with Fr. Jose del Toro


Joseph in the group photo


everyone made a banner at the retreat last weekend

After Mass, there was a reception at the Officer's Club on base. While we waited in line for the professional photos, the kids provided me a few more candid photo ops.

Cheese!


The only way to take a photo of Katie lately, is to catch her by surprise ;)


Doesn't seem that long ago when it was First Communion day for the boys at left and center


Free drinks! Cool!


Cake!



with Fr. Jose after lunch

After Mass on Sunday, which Joseph happily called his "Second Holy Communion", we had a celebratory brunch at home. He chose brown sugar pound cake for his First Communion cake. Notice that he also chose waffles and sparkling cider for breakfast. Luckily, Daddy made eggs and bacon, too, so we weren't completely without nutrition.

Congratulations, Joseph Dominic!

With love from
Mom, Dad, Tommy, Patrick, Katie, Matthew, and the baby