Sunday, June 29, 2008
Catechesis and First Communion
Because the article was dated in May, some of you may have missed Pr Stuckwisch's post about "early" first communion and ongoing catechesis and what is necessary for proper reception of the Lord's Supper. It's long and thoughtful, so don't bop over there to merely skim the piece. But it's excellent. I appreciated especially what he said about the pastor's hard (and continuing!) work to teach when he takes seriously the task of lifelong catechesis.
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Our Ben, 10 years of age, struggles with this so much. Our church communes at eighth grade. Ben is more aware of what the sacrament is than many of those who were just given their first communion. At CCA he had a very difficult time when he saw all the young children going to communion. He is ready. He knows, understands, and desires to receive God's precious gifts. My husband continues to educate. When will they listen? I mean LISTEN not just hear. Sometimes that seems impossible for them. They are too busy taxing themselves over money and how much interest we owe ourselves for borrowing from ourselves. Okay, there, I vented, thank you.
ReplyDeleteBoy, we sure do know Ben's pain. My kids struggled with that a lot too: "why can't we go? Doesn't Jesus want to forgive us too?" Two of our were confirmed at age 10 and the rest at age 12. And that was really extreme for the congregation. What surprised me was that there was no "favoritism" claims; that may be because our first 10-yr-old who was confirmed was confirmed with another 10-yr-old in the congregation. And our second 10-yr-old was going to be going in for open-heart surgery, and they understood the desire that she be communing prior to unplugging her heart and then restarting it. What seemed most offensive in the congregation was the implication that children could be ready at a younger age, an age they determined to be "too young," which means that their own intellectual preparations and their own "understanding" and their own confirmation classes maybe were not what merited them favor in God's eyes after all. I mean, whenever you get to "I am better able to commune -- I can be worthy and he cannot -- because I did thus-and-such," then it's hard for people to hear that their worthiness is not found in the things they do.
ReplyDeleteAnd thus our children did not commune when they were 5, like they should've.
I feel your pain Kristi. And as to the listening, well too often they listen but hear, "PASTOR wants it done this way....." and that brings up a whole host of other problems.
ReplyDeleteYep, it is very problamatic here in the good ole' South! I have a young girl that sits with me in church because her mom can't handle the two girls together. Anyway, she goes up to communion with me knowing full well what we are receiving, and she even holds her hands out, and is denied. It breaks my heart. She is five years old, and she believes and hears the Word taught to her in SS and from the pulpit. LCMS has gotten this all wrong in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteDebbie