The full armour

 

Continuing on from yesterday's blog, I consider once again the grounds for the practice of first Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church. The present-day sequence is as follows:

Baptism → Holy communion → Confirmation

This sequence, which has been in place since the early decades of the last century is a relatively modern practice and was fairly unique among the main branches of Christianity up until recent times.

It seems to me that two extremes need to be avoided:

Treating reception as a routine practice grounded mainly on social cultural norms where not to do so would be regarded as out of step with one’s community.  Such an approach deprives children of the rich experience of growing in knowledge, love and experience of what personal communion entails.

The second extreme is where we might adopt an overly rigid attitude that restricts communion to those deemed pure enough on grounds of age, intellectual development, life circumstances or adherence to regulations. The Lord’s Table should be open to all who approach in faith and openness to the grace of Christ.

All that said, I think that there is merit in the ancient tradition (at least in the Western world) of this:

• Baptism as the entry to Christian life.

• Confirmation as the sealing and strengthening of that life in the Holy Spirit.

• And the Eucharist as the nourishing and completion of the process of initiation.

If children are mature enough to receive the Body and Blood of Christ I find it difficult to understand why they are not ready to receive confirmation following suitable preparation and instruction.  If this is deemed to be inappropriate for young children (say under the age of 10) then might there be a case to delay first holy communion by a few years?  In this way, reception of first holy communion would become the crowning moment of a process of initiation; the Eucharist is the goal of initiation.

As against this it may be argued that children need the benefit of the full strength of all three sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist as early as possible to survive spiritually and blossom more fully in this corrupt world where pressure are so intense. And, it is the practice in Roman and Eastern Catholic churches that children at a certain age begin to participate in the sacrament or mystery of confession before communion.  In reality, it is a question of four-part sequence.  Tragically, we have lost – for the most part – the universal habit of personal or individual confession especially at key liturgical points in the church year.

Which sequence is best is a matter for each church or devolved authority to decide.  I trust the decision of those entrusted with such decisions.  However, I think it is always good to interrogate the reasons and know why we do what we do.