Anyone's DC making their First Holy Communion this year?

[MummyPenguin]

My two boys are. Anyone else preparing for this at the moment? Our preparation programme is a bit of a nightmare. The DC have to Holy Communion classes every Monday at 5.45 p.m. which is a really bad time, teatime, and like my DC, most children do after school activities so it's such a rush. Added to that there's Masses every Sunday, plus parent's meetings, one a month, and I've been roped in as a Catechist so I'm having to work with the DC preparation classes and go to Catechist meetings too. So it's all been a bit aaarrrggghhhh so far.

What is your preparation programme like?

[nametaken]

hi mummypenguin my dd2 did hers last year and all we had to do was have a half hour meeting at school with parish priest during which all he did was bang on and on about how you should go to mass every Sunday. Then there was special pre-communion mass and then the first communion.

The children were prepared in school so don't really know what they did but they did get an "I Belong" book.

[MummyPenguin]

That's much better. My boys are in a Catholic school but according to the Priest, the Holy Communion ceremony is a 'Parish concern not a school concern' which is why it's run like it is. The whole thing has been really tiring. I've been out two evenings so far this week, for the children's session and a parent's meeting, after which we had to have a Catechist's meeting.

[DeeMid]

My son is making his communion this year. He is not making it with his class mates, I decided that his Parish community was a better option. We are meet after 11am mass 4 times this accademic year. The schools also offer communion support through the school week. Our Priest talks to the parents while the Parish Friends (Catechist) guide the children through the Units. Today we have completed Unit 3, Units 4 & 5 are to be done at home with the parents and we meet again in April to do Unit 6.

The Tuesday of Holy Week the children make their Reconciliation, May 11 they are confirmed and then for 4 sundays at any of the 3 mass the children make their communion with the parish.

It is very much a parish affair, and I think much better than when my DD made hers with her school, I was a Catechist for her friends too. The majority of the participants families had no committment to what they were doing. This was very obvious on the reconciliation and communion day as the parents sent their children but didn't particpate themselves.

[cariboo]

My dd is making hers this year, too. I'm CoE so it's not something I've had much experience with. Dh is Catholic & so is ds. She's being prepared by her school (in French). I feel she's too young; she has great difficulty sharing, she tells "fibs" from time to time, doesn't know what the 7 'deadly sins' are, etc. Maybe I expect too much? I was considering making an appointment with the priest but am timid. I don't believe in hell, I don't believe in transubstantiation & have trouble with the idea that a human being (the Pope) is a direct representative of God. Confession is also a problem for me: how can saying 5 Hail Marys & 5 Our Fathers, for example, signify a suitable punishment for a particular sin or wrong-doing? Shouldn't repentance be from the self and forgiveness granted by God alone?

[nightcat]

That's sooo interesting (though irelevant to the topic) just that our RC priest's mum is RC, his dad and his sister are CoE..