St. Mary Catholic Church   Solon, Iowa
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
    • Tour of Church & Parish Hall
    • Our Pastor
    • Staff
    • Parish Newsletters
    • Pastoral Council
    • Mission Statement
    • Harvest Festival
  • Parish Ministries
    • Stewardship
    • Church Life
    • Faith Formation
    • Family Life
    • Parish Nurse Ministries
    • Social Action
    • Finance Council
    • Worship & Spirituality
    • Helping Hands
    • Knights of Columbus
    • Order of Forestors
  • Prayer & Sacraments
    • Sacraments
    • Mass Ministries & Schedule
    • Prayer & Faith Resources
    • Church Seasons & Celebrations
  • Next GEN
    • K-4th Grade
    • First Communion & Reconciliation
    • 5-7th Grade
    • 8th grade Confirmation
    • High School
    • Journey With Jesus
    • Vacation Bible School
  • Marriage & Family
    • Marriage
    • Troubled Marriages and Divorced
    • Fathers
    • Mothers
    • Children
    • Parents of Young Children
    • Parents of Teens & Preteens
    • Grandparents
  • Links
    • Aleteia
    • Daily News
    • Catholic Lane
    • Vatican
    • Mass Times for Travelers
    • Catechism
    • New American Bible
    • On the Culture
    • Human Dignity
    • United States Bishops
    • Diocese of Davenport
  • Word On Fire
Picture

Celebrating
First Reconciliation & Communion
​

"The Eucharist is such a great gift. That's why going to Mass is so important. Going to Mass not just to pray, but to receive Communion the Bread and Body of Christ He saves us, forgives us and he makes us one with the Father. How beautiful!”  -Pope Francis

​2nd Grade Children:
 The first celebration of Reconciliation and Communion takes place in 2nd grade. 

Formation with 2nd Grade Families for 1st Communion:
  • Family Participation in the Sunday Eucharist
  • Family Participation in the K-4th Grade Family Gatherings
  • Attend 5 Sessions on the Mass (see dates below)
  • Attend Retreats, Reconciliation & 1st Communion Practice (see dates below)
​

Older Children & Teens:  Each year, older children and teens come back to the church and prepare for the reception of these Sacraments.  If your family has been away, we welcome you back and will help you enter back into the sacramental life of the church.  Please call the parish office for more information, 624-2228.


2017-18 Dates:

THURSDAYS  6:30-7:20pm
Sessions on the Mass: 
(Childcare not provided - we ask one or both parents join their son/daughter)
​October 5      
October 19     
November 2 
December 7   

January 11 ​

*Eucharist Retreat:
Sunday, January 28, 11:30-1:00
*lunch & childcare provided
 

*Reconciliation Retreat:
Sunday, March 4,  11:30-1:00
*lunch & childcare provided
                

Lenten Reconciliation Service
Wednesday, March 7, 6:30pm
 

First Communion Practice:
Thursday, April 19, 6:30pm
             

First Communion Masses:
Families will be able to choose between:
5:00pm Saturday, April 21  
or 
10:30am Sunday,  April 22



Picture


​The most important way...  
​to prepare your son/daughter for his/he  First Communion, is to take part in the weekly celebration of Mass.  

The Mass is God’s most profound way of entering into the lives of his people.  It is something God does.  He invites us to participate in, to celebrate with, to be nourished by and be sent forth to build his kingdom.  



Picture

​Children learn through the observation of the most important people in their lives – their parents.  What is important, meaningful and life-giving to the parents becomes the same to their children.  

What is your child's observation of your family’s celebration of Mass? Gathering regularly at the table of the Lord, reverently receiving our Lord in the Eucharist, going in peace to love and serve others, living the message of the Gospel?  
If you have been away – the Lord invites you to His table.  Please come, please join us.




​




In his book 
The One Thing, 
Matthew Kelly describes one night when he held his infant son Walter in his arms and reflected 
on his hopes for 
Walter’s future. 
Picture
I hope I can teach my son to have a dynamic relationship with God. I hope   I can teach him to listen to the promptings of God in his life. I hope I can teach him to appreciate how powerful it is to be fed by the Eucharist. I hope that I can teach him to live a life worthy of the talents God has given him.   But how? 


That night, sitting there, I could feel his little self breathing against my neck, and I thought to myself, “How will I teach him these things?” It was overwhelming.
 But then I was reminded of a friend who had told me that the first lessons of faith come through relationships. In the care and concern I show my son, by touching him tenderly and speaking sincere words of love, I have already begun to teach him about God as a loving Father.

 When I go out of my way to do things for him, to help his mother, or to serve others, I am teaching him about the Eucharist, which is a powerful reminder that Jesus laid down his life for us … and that he calls us to lay down our lives for others. I pray that out of all this emerges a longing to receive the Eucharist
Proudly powered by Weebly
✕