Remember Your First Communion?

Today we leave for Jerusalem but there is an amazing morning planned for Team Glavin before we depart the land of Galilee. Pearse is excited and you know it’s going to be a special day because he even had to take a shower. When we asked him “When was the last time you took a shower?” Pearse said with a small shrug of his little shoulders, “I don’t know, Istanbul?” That was somewhere between 5-8 days ago and sometimes, as we all know, the simple things just slip by with barely a ripple.
As we sat for breakfast everyone was asking “Are you ready?” or would say something along the lines of “This is a great day, Pearse.” There are so many things that bond us but the Sacraments are amazing in their ability to conjure the deepest of memories. As you read this I am sure that you recall Communion, don’t you? It doesn’t matter if you were in Ireland, shared it with a sister, or looked at the picture of 7 brothers and sisters in one frame all of your life, you remember First Communion. Today, Pearse joins his fellow brothers and sisters from around the world, as he takes his first taste of the Remembrance of the Last Supper.

We are in Capernaum, the ancient city where Jesus preached. It is strikingly serene as you can see the Jewish Synagogue where He preached the words “Eat my Flesh and Drink my Blood”. Could you pick a better place to receive this most wonderful Sacrament? The Priests are busy prepping to begin the Mass. Our group moves to the small, 3 rowed open air amphitheatre with the Altar placed in the center. It is simple, as it should be in this environ, with ancient stones placed on each side of a large slab of rock. Behind the altar is the Sea of Galilee, rippling as the sun warms the surface water, and every so often a streak of light bounces of the water. Pearse is fidgety, as any 8 year boy would be in this solitary moment of adulation from so many both young and old. I suspect he is grateful when the Mass begins because it means that it will “happen soon” and equally important in his mind “it will be over soon.”

Pearse sits between his mother and me. I hold his hand and wrist and I can feel his little heart pumping in anticipation. He is happy that his dad gets to do the readings and Responsorial Psalm and later admits that it made him feel better, more like home. He is jarred out of his comfort when Father Nagle says, after the Gospel,”Pearse come up here, I want to ask you a few questions?” He looked at his mom wantonly, as if to say “You’re not going to let this happen are you?” Fr. Nagle “Pearse come down it will be fun, no problem and the questions are easy?” Pearse shoots me the “Yeah, I’ve heard that before” look. In a matter of moments Pearse was “off the hook” and when asked by Father “Now that wasn’t too bad was it?” Pearse smiled ear to ear and said “Nope” to a round of chuckles from our Legatus friends.

The “moment” came only a few minutes later. Pearse knew his responsibilities well. As he walked down the few sets of stone steps, memories raced by in my head. He is on his way to the Altar after 8+ years, carried in my arms, hoisted on my shoulder til he could walk, hundreds of trips, shoulders guided, prepping him for this very moment. He stands and waits for the 2 priests to circle the Altar, Father Nagle on one side with the Eucharist and Fr. McCormick on the other with the Chalice. The Sea of Galilee glistening and the silence of admiration by all in attendance as they hear Fr. Nagle say to Pearse, for the very first time, “The Body of Christ” and his response “Amen.” He repeats “Amen” to the statement “The Blood of Christ.” It is one of life’s pure moments witnessed by his family in Capernaum. Eamon asked Pearse on the way to the bus “What did you think of the wine/blood?” Pearse replied “Not like the stuff mommy drinks that’s for sure” Pearse strutted to the bus, headed for Jerusalem, a spring in his step and a swagger that suggested “Yeah I’m the man today!”