First Communion and First Reconciliation

Welcome to Our Lady of Mercy’s First Communion program for 2020-21!

First Communion at Our Lady of Mercy is typically a two-year program that begins in 1st grade and culminates with the Sacrament of First Communion in the Spring of the 2nd grade year.
 Due to the pandemic, our program in 2020-21 will be slightly different than in previous years.  The key components of our First Communion Program in 2020-21 are:

• Participation in our Mercy Fast Pass program for Grades 1-8 (see the Information on Religious Education tab for more information on this program);

• Five additional one-hour classes for 2^nd graders led by our Pastor, our Parochial Vicar, and a team of dedicated and talented volunteers - classes will be held on Saturday mornings from 10-11am;

• Supplemental materials for at-home study and preparation.

Toward the end of early childhood, the young disciple whose baptismal faith has been enriched through catechesis is presented to the Church for admission to Holy Communion and the completion of Christian initiation.  The young Christian then begins a lifelong participation in the central mystery of our life in Christ, which is the Eucharist.  

The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.  The Lord said:  "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."   Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet:  " As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."  Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church.  Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved in baptism.
What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life:  it preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at baptism; it separates us from sin, for the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins; it strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins; in the Eucharist, Christ revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him.  Finally, the Eucharist commits us to the service of the poor."

Archdiocese of Washington, Liturgical Norms and Policies, Ch. 5.1 (2010).