“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

On this beautiful feast of Corpus Christi, we were blessed with my youngest daughter making her First Holy Communion yesterday at Holy Mass. It was bitter sweet for me, as I quickly learned that I would never be preparing any more of my children for this beautiful Sacrament. I thought of years past, when Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, Cousins and EVERYONE would pile into the Church to witness this beautiful Sacrament. There was always a huge family gathering that followed with great food and cards & a big cake. There were only five of us in our family to celebrate this beautiful day for her. My husband, her older sister and my sister & brother-in-law.her Aunt & Uncle, my sister & brother in law, along with myself.

Taking into account most of my family is out of state and my parents have been gone for close to 15 years, I found myself at odds with how things were and how they are today. I was wrestling with the Parable of the Wedding Feast. So many invited, but everyone has something better to do. My husbands family consists of a sister, her baby and husband and his mother here in California, about 50 miles north, who very recently suffered a death of a teen nephew and could not attend. The rest of his family is in London and other parts of the world. We did what we could to make it a special day.

I couldn’t help but ponder the utmost importance of the family’s role in the celebration and how big a part they are in making the child receiving the Sacrament understand its a BIG deal. When many come to celebrate something you have done, seeds are planted not for you, but for future generations to come. For them to make the Sacrament a BIG deal for their children and not lose the reverence for it and our Lord, by family that just can’t be bothered to participate. Therefore my child will understand that if she is given the gift of children later on, she to will do everything to make the Sacrament a Big Deal. Because it is.

In my struggles with not having many attend, I was presented with a thought that its not just about one day. Its about every day. Its a continuing “Celebration” in all time and eternity and as long as our Lord was present, so were all the Holy Angles & Saints. So were all those family members who could not be there for the party here with us, who are now with our Lord.

I find myself today, embracing the “tiny bunch of grapes” left in my home that are present to celebrate not only my daughters First Holy Communion, but for all Holy Communions in the Celebration of the Holy Mass that is ongoing for all time and eternity.

As we continued today, my husband surprised me and the girls with a trip to Greek Fest here in San Diego. We ate great food and seen children dancing and my children played games in the children area. As we sat with them, my youngest pointed to a sign and an area for very small children and said to me: “Mommy? Why can’t I be under 3 so I can play in that place?”. The Holy Spirit inflamed my heart with an answer. I said to her, you are under 3. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we have to move on to different areas because we grow. That doesn’t mean your not under 3.(Father, Son & Holy Spirit) You will always be under 3. As long as you stay under 3. As we grow bigger, and we look back, we forget to look back forward to the things we can do and need to do rather then the things we can’t do anymore. God wants to show you new things as you are growing. She completely understood it! She didn’t throw a fit, she moved on. And so did I.

May the Celebration continue!

Glory to God.

EDIT TO ADD: From June 4th, 2015. Pope Francis on Twitter: “We need to build up society in the light of the Beatitudes, walking towards the Kingdom with the least among us.”