A parish-based way to bring meaning back into the celebration of First Communion

If synodality is to have any real meaning in the Catholic Church, it must be rooted in the local parish. An area that would benefit from a parish synodal process is the manner in which First Communion is celebrated. Many Catholics are questioning the present conventions surrounding this sacrament, which can lead to a situation where people who have no particular commitment to faith put their children forward for the communal celebration.

There is a feeling that this sacrament has no particular religious meaning for many of the children or their parents. How would Pope Francis’s concept of synodality be applied to the question: “How can we best prepare children for the reception of the Eucharist?”

From what I have read, a synodal process has to try to avoid a “winner-loser” mentality. The people who gather have to try very hard to forego their own agenda, their own viewpoint, and listen to other voices, other perspectives. This means the participant has to give up their own conviction of what should happen. Most of all, the participant has to believe in the Holy Spirit, and see this same Holy Spirit as someone who is not interested in power grabs.

All of this is difficult. For starters, it is difficult for us to have a concept of the Holy Spirit because it is spirit, something intangible that we cannot see or touch and, for myself, a guiding presence I can only usually experience in hindsight, if at all. Even mention of the Holy Spirit can seem like a foreign language.

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As I understand it, the process of synodality would go through three stages, namely seeing, assessing and acting.

We see parents scrolling through their mobile phones during Mass and we see parents who behave with the respect accorded to sacred places

What do we see in our parishes on First Communion days? We see children wearing expensive white dresses and we also see children dressed in the clothes that an older sibling, cousin or neighbour wore in previous years. We see parents scrolling through their mobile phones during Mass and we see parents who behave with the respect accorded to sacred places.

We see a plethora of envelopes that, most likely, contain money. We hear a lot about family celebrations, which can be occasions of warmth and love but can also see expressions of conspicuous consumption.

How do we judge what we have seen? This can be divisive, because there can be condemnation and recrimination. As Christians who are flawed, we must not judge from a position of moral superiority. Rather, we have to seek to understand the underlying causes of the behaviours and we need to see this with an eye on the current culture.

Our biases

Here, especially, we have to be aware of our own stances, our own biases. We have to detach from our beliefs about what we have seen. We could try to appreciate the pressures under which people are acting, the pressure to “do the best for the child” even if this “best” is viewed in material terms.

We may need to consider that the phone strollers may be acting out of feelings of unease, may just want to appear “cool”, to give the impression that they are gone way past this “whole religion thing”. Conformity has many faces.

Parishes need structures where what is seen can be discussed respectfully and where assessments and opinions can be exchanged, respectfully, and where assessments and opinions can be exchanged.

in order to give breathing space, it might be suggested that the celebration of First Communion be deferred for a further year

It is only then that we can arrive at the “act” stage. The action may not coincide with what either side are seeking but it can be something on which the participants can broadly agree. The churchy word for all this is “discernment” but at its core, it demands honest listening, respect, and detachment from one’s own perspective.

[ Irish people and First Communion: ‘We are all more like the Simpsons than the Waltons’ ]

[ ‘Bouncy castle Catholics, I think my sort is called. I prefer to go by a la carte Catholic’ ]

A very rough outline of this process is already present in parishes in the form of the pre-First Communion meeting, which usually takes place in the first quarter of the calendar year. This assembly has often involved having a motivational speaker.

Maybe it could be the beginning of listening to all stakeholders and, in order to give breathing space, it might be suggested that the celebration of First Communion be deferred for a further year. Time will be needed to hear the different voices and it is only when debate and reflection are allowed to happen that the third stage, action, can proceed.

Finally, the synodality process must be ongoing so that practices can continually evolve over the years.

Margaret Lee is a member of the Newport, Birdhill and Toor parish in Co Tipperary.