A message to our First Communicants that applies to all the faithful
Every time I speak about First Communion, I say the same thing: it should be a game changer. It should have a deep impact on your life, especially your First Communion. In truth, every time we receive the Eucharist at Mass, we should receive it as if it were our first time, our last time, and our only time. That is how important and special receiving Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is.
I also think of young saints who had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, especially St. Carlo Acutis. He grew up in a family that did not practice the faith very much, but when he received his First Communion, it had a deep, lasting impact on his life. From that moment on, he directed his life toward Christ. That one encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist changed everything.
St. Carlo was an ordinary young man in many ways, but he used his ordinary interests and extraordinary gifts for the glory of God. Born in 1991, he had a remarkable understanding of technology and used that talent to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles from around the world—miracles in which the host, appearing as bread, was revealed as Christ’s flesh and blood. He liked normal things, wore Nike shoes, and dressed like any other boy his age. Yet what made him stand out was not his style or talents, but his love for Jesus Christ. He showed that holiness does not require being removed from the world; it requires loving Christ above everything else.
Tragically, in 2006, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia, and seven days later, he died at just 15 years old. It is a heartbreaking story. But in those final days, he prayed and offered up his suffering for the conversion of sinners, for a deeper devotion to the Eucharist, and for the Pope. Even at such a young age, he lived with heroic faith.
People often say, “When I get older, then I will be holy.” They think holiness is something to pursue later in life. But that is not true. St. Carlo Acutis was unwilling to wait to live a heroic life. He was only a little older than many of our First Communicants, yet he chose to live fully for Christ. Even when his family was not very faithful, he still pursued holiness with conviction. And because he lived that way, his whole family was converted.
One of St. Carlo’s most famous lines is this:
“All people are born as originals, but many die as photocopies.”
A photocopy is something that looks just like everything else. We do not need any more photocopies in life. We need true originals. We need heroes.
Let your First Communion be deeply impactful. Do not spend your life doing only what everyone else does. There is already too much of that. Be original in the way God has called you to be original.
Whether someone has received Holy Communion once or thousands of times, the call remains the same: let receiving the Eucharist be deeply impactful. The Church does not need more copies. It needs saints. It needs men and women, boys and girls, who are willing to become exactly who God created them to be.
God is not asking for the same person over and over again. He is asking for you. Each person has a purpose. Each person is called to be a saint. Be the original person God created you to be. Because when it comes to the end of our journey here on earth, we do not want people to say, “He or she was just like everybody else.” We want them to say, “He or she became who God called them to be, and I believe he or she is a saint in heaven.”
Father James Schibi, Pastor