Our son Zane made his Confirmation and First Holy Communion on September 18, 2020. This beautiful and important milestone in his life was definitely a ray of light in otherwise dark times. Originally, Zane was supposed to receive his Sacraments back in April, but the COVID-19 pandemic upended those plans like it did so many other aspects of our lives.
Our diocese recently instituted something called “Restored Order,” which has children make their Confirmation and First Holy Communion at the same time in third grade, thus completing all at once the Sacraments of Initiation which began with their baptism in infancy.
The Restored Order worked out well for Zane because he was coming into the Church as a convert and needed to be Confirmed before making his First Holy Communion—otherwise he would have been received at the Easter Vigil like I was. Zane received his Sacraments with his classmates from school, which I think will be a nice memory for him. He is the third generation of our family to make his Confirmation and First Holy Communion in our hometown of Keene, NH, which is really special. Our parish priest from Walpole was able to come down and concelebrate the Mass, as well, which was so meaningful for all of us.
Zane’s sponsor was his grandmother, my husband’s mother (she was also my sponsor). It was truly such a beautiful and wonderful evening for the whole family. Please keep this next generation of little Catholics in your prayers as they travel on their journey of faith.