About Communion (Eucharist)
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. We believe that Jesus, at the Last Supper, gave us a New Covenant and this covenant is founded on the Eucharist. At that Last Supper, Christ clearly gave His Body and Blood, promising that whoever partakes of it will have eternal life.
As a faith community, we bring forward bread and wine, gifts from God that we now return back to Him. The priest (acting in persona Christi, or in the person of Christ) takes these gifts and prays over them the words that Jesus prayed at the Last Supper. We believe that these gifts – what appears to still be bread and wine – have changed in substance, and are now the Body and Blood of Christ.
First Eucharist is celebrated at St. Francis Xavier annually with our young people in the second grade after completion of the necessary requirements in our Religious Education program. Likewise, First Eucharist is celebrated at the Easter Vigil with those from our Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults process. For information about First Eucharist for children, contact Lauren Battcher, and for the OCIA process, contact Paula Silliman (502-538-4933).