First Holy Communion

[Noradthree]

Hi! This is my first-ever post, please redirect me if I am in the wrong place.

My question is- how does a person go about receiving their First Holy Communion if he had not gone through the typical faith formation? We may be looking at having to do things outside of the normal time frame with our son.

A little background- My father-in-law went in for what was supposed to be a routine procedure last March and instead spent roughly 3/4 of the year in a hospital bed and then a rehabilitation center, rather than going home. Many things weren’t at the forefront during this stressful time, unfortunately one that slipped was registering our son (second grade) for faith formation- as such he has missed 8 classes so far this year.

Being ‘cradle’ Catholics, as we have heard it termed, my husband and I both went through First Holy Communion preparation during our second grade years… Any other process is foreign to us, and we have no idea how it is done outside of this method. Can anyone shed some light on how one would prepare for the sacrament, when it isn’t done at the typical time? I have called our parish and we are waiting to hear back as to their process in the event that they do not allow him to take the remaining classes and have us help him make anything up… I am just curious as to what is usually the ‘other’ (lack of a better term) way to go about receiving it.

Thank you for your experiences or advice; I appreciate withholding judgment as we already feel incredibly guilty for not making this a higher priority for our son’s well being this year.

 

[MaryT777]

When a Sacrament isn’t done at the regular time the only option is to contact the parish and speak with the priest about what needs to be done to meet the requirements as usually this is done in a case by case manner depending upon the situation.

God Bless
Mary.

 

[Irish_Cabbie]

I agree with Mary. Do what the parish tells you to do. If your son has to wait until next year in order to receive his first Holy Communion, then so be it.

I’ll say a little prayer for your father-in-law. Good luck and God bless.

 

[PrayPsalm51]

Each Parish seems to have their own “rules”. I teach 2nd grade and our parish requires 2 years of preparation. It is not uncommon to have students who are a bit older in each year’s class. I use them as “helpers”. We have on occasion allowed “home schooling” as long as they are actively practicing Catholics and the circumstances were truly extenuating. I too will pray for your family member and your son.

 

[Joannm]

Our diocese requires two years of preparation no matter what the age. We have older kids preparing for FHC but they go to the appropriate grade level classes and get special classes to prepare them for sacraments their second year. If we occasionally have a special circumstance the first thing we look at is Mass attendance, does the family come every week, are they living the Christian life. Even if all that looks good if the child is coming into the program aafter missing so many classes we make them wait until next year or have them receive several months after regular FHC at a regulare Sunday mass withiut much fanfare.

 

[Noradthree]

Thank you everyone for your replies. And the prayers for my father in law. I appreciate you all.