What Sort of Religious Experience Should I Give My Children - Research Paper Example

What sort of religious experience should I give my children? Almost everybody who attends the catholic Mass nowadays receives Holy Communion. This present-day rite reveals, among other things, a contemporary belief that the observance of the Eucharist is a commemorative sacrifice and a holy meal; only being aware of human sin, which totally disconnects us from the Lord and from the people who obey God, must stop us from experiencing the Holy Communion (Allen 33). The Eucharist is our bond with God. Our relationship with Him becomes dearer and stronger through the Eucharist. And because of this I would like my children to experience the Holy Communion. Jesus proclaimed in John’s Gospel, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit” (Jordly 202). Jesus Christ wants us to know that we are at one with Him, and so we must prepare our children to receive Him. The Holy Communion is the leading sacrament because the Lord divinely exists in us. Several Christian faiths commemorate a communion feast with wine and bread as a symbol of our relationship with God, or as a means to celebrate the Last Supper (Cottrell 128). Followers of the Catholic faith consider this communion meal as something beyond a mere commemoration or symbol. When Jesus Christ proclaimed, “This is my body… This is my blood,” (Wallace 25). Catholics know the meaning of the words faithfully as Jesus uttered them. Jesus also proclaimed (Cottrell 129): Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Hence, at the time of sanctification, Catholics know that the wine and bread are not wine and bread anymore. The wine and bread have become Jesus Christ Himself, his soul, blood, body, and holiness. It is a unique miracle that takes place on Catholic shrines across the globe, each day, from the moment Jesus Christ bestowed upon us this sacrament at the Last Supper (Glavich 12). Nobody, not even adults with tons of knowledge, not even the people of the Church, can wholly grasp how this strong bond with Jesus occurs. It is an unfathomable enigma. This essay is built on the question, “what sort of religious experience should I give my children?” I already confronted this question a long time ago, and it is only recently that I finally found the answer. I realized that I was the one who needed guidance and not my children. They were accepting while pieces of me were inhospitable. Children will completely trust or believe whatever their parents say, as long as they are truthful and do not create doubts, do not challenge their belief of what is just. Our ability to communicate or teach our children is an indication of how much we ourselves believe or trust what we long to say. And this is the deep-seated concern in preparing our children for the Holy Communion. I myself was uncertain how I should prepare my child for the Holy Communion. We live in a foreign country. There were only a small population of Catholics, they barely speak English and were quite preoccupied with their everyday activities. There were a smaller number of priests and nuns and they too are not fluent in English. The dilemma of teaching and catechism appeared. With regret I recalled the disciplined and efficient instructions provided by the clerics when I was seven. We regularly attend the Sunday Mass. I cannot help but notice residents in the town returning to the Mass as their children are about to receive the Holy Communion for the first time. It seems like these children with their spiritual vigor, desiring to be a part of the catechism group, were pulling their parents toward stronger faith. These children encouraged their parents to attend the Mass every Sunday. The children are in fact renewing and strengthening their parents’ faith. I consulted a Papal representative who asked me straightforward questions: “What made you think that there are other people out there to prepare your child for the Holy Communion? Don’t you know that the most essential task of a parent is to impart his/her faith to his/her children?” He then advised me to avoid being a dogmatic, halfhearted Catholic and handing over to the clerics this important task for me. In all fairness, he assured me that he would guide me. He would maintain regular communication. Finally he would look at our children and, if all is in order, grant them their first Holy Communion. I succeeded with the task and my children finally received their first Holy Communion. I then started planning an instruction for my children. I searched for relevant materials in Catholic libraries. There was a huge diversity but, whatever its unbiased values it still left me with negative emotions, particularly loneliness and detachment. I then decided to exercise several uncomplicated ideologies. Children are stubborn and want the truth. They are fond of stories. Stories in the Bible would give truths, episodes which occurred, and alongside are the unbiased realities of revelation. In using clear and easily understandable explanations and picking out the subject matters which would result in a greater appreciation of the Eucharist, I would be employing the most appropriate medium for my children. Most essentially, the Mass is our holy interaction with Jesus Christ. Hence, my mission must focus on Him, be rooted in the Gospel. I must try to consolidate scripture and catechism. The preparation must mirror the harmony of the Mass: “its Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Rite, the mystery of the real presence of Christ in our community as Church and as communion in our sacrament of the Eucharist” (Allen 3). Jesus Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, informs us that knowing and admitting we are weak in spirit, is the condition of true faith. A sense of incompleteness endows us the certainty that we are confronting the actual subject matter and not merely faith as an idea. Therefore, faith is still the test. “The Mass is the source and summit of the Christian life” (Rich 48). We do not have the capacity to drain this source, or even to reach the pinnacle of ourselves. Everything is provided; and in imparting to our children what we have received, we embrace the wonder of these rewards and how they influence our everyday existence. The Communion sacrament guides us toward the Eucharist. As we speak the prayer that Jesus Christ gave us, we accept our unity as children of God, we revere Him with a united voice, and we go to Him for our essential needs—teachings, guidance, absolution, and food. Our prayers for daily bread identify not just the necessity of basic food but also the necessity of the Bread of Life. In numerous communities, if not majority of them, communion is given with the presence of both wine and bread. Even though Jesus Christ is wholly present in the blessed bread and sipping the holy wine is voluntary, by obtaining the Eucharist in both bread and wine, we represent in a more complete manner our longing to be the Body of Christ and our eagerness to share, or, if needed, sacrifice our lives for our fellow people. If the children getting ready for their first Holy Communion will be granted the opportunity to decide for themselves, they should be persuaded to seek guidance from their parents. As we teach, encourage, and prepare our children to receive the Holy Communion, we hope that they would appreciate and be happy with our practices before they experience the Eucharist. More essentially, we hope that they discern in these prayers and practices some of the more profound essences of the Holy Communion—love, trust, peace, forgiveness, joy, and sharing. Some people argue that children do not yet have the capacity to appreciate the Holy Communion sacrament and must not be encouraged to experience it until they have been verified. Nevertheless, if a full appreciation became a qualification, no one could receive the important sacrament of the Eucharist. Children may not fully appreciate what is going on, but they are aware when people are requested to attend a feast or a meal and they are left out. When we, parents, feel a yearning to receive the Holy Communion, we should discuss this subject matter intimately with our children. We should tell them that Holy Communion is a sacred moment for the whole family. When we sip the wine and eat the bread we know and feel that Jesus is close to us. Enlightening our children what Holy Communion is all about should not be performed on one occasion, but regularly. Meal times may be a perfect moment to explain the essence of and truth about the Holy Communion. Works Cited Allen, Mark. First Holy Communion: A Parent’s Preparation. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. Print. Cottrell, Stephen. Emmaus: The Way of Faith. London: Church House Publishing, 2004. Print. Glavich, Mary Kathleen. The Gift of Holy Communion: For Parents of Children Celebrating First Eucharist. New York: Acta Publications, 2001. Print. Jordly, Arne. The Greatest Man: He Really Was the Son of God. New York: Author House, 2012. Print. Rich, Charles. Talking to your Children about being Catholic. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 1995. Print. Wallace, Robin Knowles. Just in Time! Communion Services. New York: Abingdon Press, 2011. Print. Read More