Blessed Imelda and First Holy Communion

The 5th Sunday of Easter
Today’s Readings: [Click here]
We are very blessed this weekend to celebrate First Holy Communion at St. Lawrence Parish. Soon, two precious children will come before God’s holy altar and receive the Lord for the very first time. This is a day they will remember and lovingly think back on for the rest of their lives.

But First Communion is not so much a once-in-a-lifetime occasion as it is a beginning: the start of wonderful journey through life with Jesus Christ. We will love him, and he will love us back. It’s a lot like a wedding. Sure, the wedding celebration is a great thing—a moving ceremony, a festive party, lots of fun and laughter with so many friends and relatives—but much more importantly, it’s the very beginning of the new couple’s life together… their journey through life with their best friend and beloved partner at their side.

Our children have been preparing for a long time to receive Jesus Christ. We pray that the Holy Spirit has truly touched their hearts.

One of the patron saints of fervent first communions is Blessed Imelda, who came out of one of the oldest families of Bologna, Italy. Her father was a count and her mother a contessa. She lived in the early 1300s.

Even as a very young girl, Imelda loved to pray. Her parents let her make a little chapel for herself in their house, which she decorated with holy pictures and flowers. She spent many happy hours there.

When she was 9 years old, she begged her parents to let her enter a Dominican convent so she could live with the nuns and be trained by them. Her mother and father permitted it, and Imelda was overjoyed. She loved spending time adoring the Blessed Sacrament at mass and in the tabernacle. She had a wonderful, sunny disposition, and everyone loved her.

Imelda’s life of prayer and adoration made her long to receive holy communion… but she was still too young. In those days, the rule of the Church was that a child had to be 12 years old to take communion.

When Imelda was 11, in the year 1333, she went with the nuns to the Ascension Day Mass. All the others had received their communion; only Imelda was left unsatisfied. When mass and thanksgiving were over, the nuns were starting to leave the chapel when lo and behold, something very amazing happened.

The sisters were startled to see a sacred communion host floating in the air above Imelda’s head, while the girl was kneeling in prayer in front of the closed tabernacle. Quickly, the nuns ran for the priest. Father came with a paten to receive this mysterious host. The priest was so moved by this miracle, that he could do no less than give it to Imelda then and there as her First Holy Communion.

As it turned out, Imelda’s first communion was also her last. Her heart was so enraptured with love, that she sank unconscious to the ground, and when loving hands pulled her up, they found that she was dead.

The lesson of Blessed Imelda is a beautiful one for all of us. Wouldn’t it be incredible and magnificent if each of us could be that devoted to Jesus Christ and to our own communions!

I’m sure you all know the famous golfer, Tiger Woods. Did you ever notice that he’s a head-to-toe Nike man? He wears Nike shoes, clothing, gloves, hats—and he even uses the Nike Precision Tour Accuracy golf ball when he plays.

St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians that we, as God’s chosen people, must dress “head-to-toe” in Christ’s wardrobe. Paul wrote: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Col. 3: 12).

What a great way to celebrate and commemorate First Holy Communion—or any holy communion, for that matter!—with a firm resolution to be Christ-like… to dress head-to-toe in Jesus’ virtues.

Yes, First Communion is much more than a milestone or a great celebration day. It is a special day to pledge your love to Jesus for ever and ever—and promise to love God and your neighbor as much as you can. Whether you’re 8 or 88, you should be trying to do that every day.

This is exactly what Christ tells us in the gospel today: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

Let us bless God for giving us his Son to be our model, our savior and our spiritual food. May every communion—from your first to your last—strengthen you, fill you with joy and peace, and help you clothe yourself head-to-toe in Jesus Christ. Blessed Imelda, pray for us! Amen!