First Reconciliation and First Communion Eligibility:
Our students who are preparing for Holy Communion must register in our Sacramental Preparation Process, as well as attend Parish School of Religion. In order to be eligible for the reception of Holy Communion:
- Must be in 2nd grade for First Communion and attend 2nd grade PSR regularly with no excessive absences.
- Must attend all practices and retreats.
- St. Edward Students will receive instruction at St. Edward School but the are mandated to attend our practices, how to classes and retreats.
- If past 2nd grade with catechesis, subject to the discretion of Fr. Savoie. Must attend PSR regularly with no excessive absences.
- Past 2nd grade with no previous catechesis:
- Will have to attend ONE year of PSR in a class designed to prepare student.
- With the contingency that they will attend PSR regularly with no excessive absences.
- Will make First Reconciliation / First Communion 2nd year of PSR
- Example – 3rd grade for a year making the sacraments in 4th.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an experience of the gift of God's boundless mercy. Not only does it free us from our sins but it also challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness for those who sin against us. We are liberated to be forgivers. We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: "It is in pardoning that we are pardoned."
Reconciliation is an experience of the gift of God's boundless mercy
Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is God's gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). While all the Sacraments bring us an experience of the mercy that comes from Christ's dying and rising, it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation that is the unique Sacrament of mercy.