“What does it mean to receive Jesus in Holy Communion? It’s like Jesus is giving us a big hug, saying, ‘I love you so much. I want you to be close to me always,’” says Russell Pollitt, S.J., pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Johannesburg and chaplain to Catholic elementary and middle schools, to the children preparing for their First Communion.
Russell uses vivid, everyday examples—birthdays, friends, hugs and gifts—to help children grasp God’s particular love for them. His First Communion homily avoids the often abstract sacramental and Eucharistic theology, inviting all in the parish community—children, parents, guardians and catechists—to “imagine Jesus giving you a big hug today” and encounter God’s love in the Eucharist.
Part of the Preaching for the Sacraments series, in this episode “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., talks with Russell about how this accessible approach helps the entire community experience Jesus as a friend. By engaging the congregation as a whole in deepening their faith alongside the children, “we can together form future disciples whose hearts are on fire with the love of Jesus.”
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Homily for First Communion celebration by Russell Pollitt, S.J
You all look so smart on this special day. And I want to begin by asking you if you can remember a time where there was a gift that you really, really wanted. Maybe you remember asking your mom, your dad or someone in your family for this gift for your birthday or for Christmas. And perhaps you would like to tell me what that gift was, that thing that you really wanted. And how did you feel when you were given that gift? I’m sure you were happy, you were excited and perhaps you felt very special. And today, we are here because you have been preparing to receive a special gift, just like you heard Jesus’s friends in the Gospel prepared a meal for him. So you have prepared yourselves every week for this special day. And the special gift is Jesus in Holy Communion, or to use another word, Jesus in the Eucharist.
Now, children, what does it mean to receive Jesus? When we receive Holy Communion, we are not just eating bread and drinking wine. When we come together to celebrate Holy Communion, we are saying yes to Jesus, coming and living in our hearts in a special way. He’s saying, “I don’t only want to live with you, but I also want to live in you.” It’s like Jesus is giving us a big hug and saying to us, “I love you so much. I want you to be close to me always. And by coming to live in you, you will always be close to me.” And why does Jesus do this? He does this because he loves each and every person very much. Sometimes people find it hard to love each other, but Jesus loves everyone and wants to be close to everyone.
Now I want to ask you another question. When you have a birthday, what do you normally do to celebrate it? You have a birthday party. You invite all your friends and you celebrate together. And every week now, when you come to Holy Mass, you will be like a special guest at Jesus’s party. All of us who come together are the special friends of Jesus. I want you to look around this church today and see how many special friends Jesus has. And there’s something else that is also very important. We come together to Jesus’s party so that he can remind each of us that he loves us very much. Nobody will ever love us like Jesus does. You know, sometimes you might fight with your friends, or maybe even you don’t like speaking to your friends or don’t feel that you want to speak to them. But it is never like that with Jesus. He always wants to be with us. He always wants to talk to us. And he hopes that we talk to him every day as well in prayer.
And so today, when you come forward to receive Holy Communion for the first time, Jesus comes to live in you, and then he goes with you everywhere you go: he goes home, he goes to school, he goes to visit your friends and, even if you go to the shops, Jesus goes with you. And sometimes when we’ve made a long journey, we get tired. We have to stop, we have to rest and have something to eat and drink. And once we have rested and eaten something, we feel strong and are able to continue to the place where we are going. Well, Jesus’ gift of Holy Communion gives us spiritual food. He helps us to feel strong so that we can be kind and loving and do the right thing.
And so children, I’m very happy that you are coming today to receive Holy Communion. And I know that just as we here the Church welcomes you, Jesus welcomes you and is very happy that you’re going to try to be more like him every day because he now will live with you and in you in a special way.
I said a lot of things, but I want also to speak to the rest of Jesus’s friends who are here today, and especially to your parents and your guardians. First, I want to thank you parents and guardians for the journey you have made with your children and also the parish catechists in preparing your children for this day. We work together as a community of disciples to form new disciples. And so it is our cooperation that is very important in the formation of these young people. But I also want to urge you, I want to encourage you, you are the primary teachers of these children in the faith. What they see and hear at home will leave an enduring mark on their minds. And so living your own relationship with the Lord, your own discipleship is critical.
Today, we celebrate an important moment in the journey of initiation, but the journey continues. So please continue to work with us so that we can together form future disciples whose hearts are on fire with the love of Jesus. And please know, to all the catechists, we appreciate the work that you have done. And to all of you who are here friends, thank you for witnessing this moment today and supporting these children and their families. We are all invited to witness the Christian life to these children and to each other. And today we are reminded again that as St. Augustine says, “We are all called to become the one whom we receive.” And so I also invite you today to renew your own discipleship and become the one to and for others whom these children receive in a special way today in the Eucharist.
And so children, let’s end with a special prayer that you can say after me:
Dear Jesus, we thank you for loving us so much. Thank you for the gift of Holy Communion. And help us to always love you and be best friends with you by loving those around us. Amen.
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