Phil's First Communion

April 6 was a big day for all of us--a very big day, indeed. Philip made his first communion!

For most Catholics, this is just another one of the steps taken as a member of the church. But, Bob and I are not like most Catholics. Bob is a *born again* atheist and I don't know what I am. Sometimes I believe in God and sometimes I don't. I'm definitely not spiritual--I just don't feel like I need to be at this point in my life--but I do like the feeling of community a church provides.

But, this post is not about us. It is about Philip. Philip made the decision to prepare for his first communion on his own, even though it meant giving up a lot of playtime. First of all, we had to switch him from ethics class to Catholic religion classes at school. Because there is no separation of church and state, public schools offer Protestant and Catholic classes as well as ethics for those who are not Christians (followers of the Orthodox Christian faith usually end up in Catholic classes). Then, Philip gave up two hours on eight Friday afternoons for first communion classes, one entire week of afternoons for Bible classes, five hours one Sunday to prepare him for his first confession, and one more Friday afternoon to confess his sins to Pfarrer Zettelmaier. He also spent four hours in practice for the big day, and on April 6, he made his first communion in the morning and returned in the afternoon for devotions.



It was a special day, because his grandparents, Bob's parents, flew from Chicago to be here for him. His grandfather sat with him during the morning service (the rest of us sat in the back with the other parents) and his grandmother sat with him during devotions. And then, of course, there was dinner in a restaurant and presents.


He also received a little extra reward--a day off from school! All the first communion kids got the following Monday off in order to make a field trip to Bamberg. Parents were invited too, so I joined Philip. Bamberg was one of the few German cities not destroyed by the Allies during World War II, because there was nothing there except churches and old palaces. Two tours of Bamberg were scheduled--an architectural tour for the adults and a medieval tour for the kids. We both learned about the history of Bamberg, but Philip's tour sounded like more fun--they built a fire using flint and ate gruel. After the tours, we attended a mass held in the Bamberger Dom (cathedral), and Philip looked so proud when he took communion for the second time in his life.

Bob and I are extremely proud of Philip, because he made the decision to accept the sacrament of communion despite his parents' beliefs and despite the huge time commitment, and he never once thought of quitting.