famille de paroisses catholiques

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First Communion Retreat

Saturday, March 6th, 2021
- Our First Communion Retreat day is on Saturday March 6th. We can’t wait to see you online! Our retreat will be held in 3 parts:
  
  a morning Zoom meeting for about 30 minutes
  
  some at-home activities to do during the day as a family, and
  
  an afternoon Zoom meeting to wrap up the day for about 20 minutes.
  
  You’ll need to be with your child in both Zoom meetings and work with them together during the day. You will receive more information one week prior with details on the times to hop on the Zoom. Looking forward to seeing you and your child on Zoom!
- your retreat day
  
  Your retreat day is a special time to spend together with your child and your whole family!
  
  Between your morning and afternoon Zoom sessions, we invite you to try one or two of the suggested activities below. There are 8 ideas, but only the First Communion Banner is required.
  
  We know how busy family life is, so pick something that you will enjoy. Maybe it's just one of the ideas, maybe more! If you can't get to any, try incorporating them into your schedule over the next few weeks.
- ideas for your day
  
  See below for more information on these ideas:
  
  Take a prayer walk
  Make a little visit to Jesus
  Watch a movie on Formed
  Make some thank you cards
  Play a board game or a card game
  Make some pretzels
  Watch how communion bread is made
  Submit your First Communion Banner (this one is required)
missed the retreat in early march?
- morning session
- afternoon session
- take a prayer walk
  
  Go for a 15 minute walk with your mom or dad. Instead of having “out loud” conversations, take some time to really see the beauty of what God made around you. Then, thank God in your heart for those things that you find beautiful as you walk: the sunshine on your face, the cool breeze, maybe the birds you see flying buy.
  
  Or maybe you just can spend some time quietly thinking as you walk about how loved you are by God, and simply enjoy the moment of being present to Him, as he is present to you always. When you return home draw a picture of your walk. It can be what you saw or what you felt.
- make a little visit to jesus
  
  You might want to include this visit in your prayer walk. Take a walk or drive (depending how far you are) to Church.
  
  Jesus in Holy Communion is always in the Tabernacle at Church. Because of the times we are in, you won’t be able to go in the Church but you can still visit Jesus from outside, and ask Him to bless you as you prepare for your First Holy Communion!
- Watch an episode on formed about the saints
  
  Formed has many wonderful videos for kids. Learning about the lives of the saints can inspire us to live as they did. Here are a few suggestions of animated shows about the saints on Formed. Watch one episode, two, or more!
  
  Saints & Heroes Collection (2 thumbs up for this series!)
  Catholic Heroes of the Faith
  Mother Teresa: Seeing the Face of Jesus
  Hildegard's Gift by Megan Hoyt
- Eucharist (aka holy communion)
  Means thanksgiving
  
  Think of a few people in your life that you are grateful for. Maybe these people are your parents, maybe it’s another family member, maybe it’s someone at school or a neighbor. Think about why you are grateful for this person. In prayer, offer this person to God in your heart and ask Him to bless them. Then, create a card for that person. Make sure you write a little message telling them why you are thankful for them. Ask your mom or dad to help you deliver or mail your thank you cards. If you really like this activity you can do as many as you like! Here is an example to help you with your thank you message:
  
  Dear..... I just wanted to send you a little note to thank you for being such an important person in my life.
  I am thankful especially for you because.....
  I said a prayer for you today!
- make some fresh pretzels
  
  Don't want to make your own dough? Here is a recipe to make pretzels from frozen pizza dough.
  Want to make your own dough from scratch? Try this recipe to make pretzels completely from scratch.
  
  Did you know? According to tradition, a young monk in the early 600s in Italy was preparing a special Lenten bread of water, flour and salt. To remind his brother monks that Lent was a time of prayer, he rolled the bread dough in strips and then shaped each strip in the form of crossed arms, mimicking the then popular prayer position of folding one's arms over each other on the chest.
- Play a Family Board or Card Game
  
  Being on retreat is not just about prayer. It’s about taking some time apart from what you do every day to be refreshed and focus on the things that matter most. Our families are so important to us! When was the last time the whole family played a board game or card game together?
  
  Here are some simple card games if you don’t have a board game in the house and are looking for ideas.
- making communion bread
- Submit a photo of your banner
  this one is required
  
  As part of your online retreat day, you will have made a special First Communion Banner to keep and bring on your child's First Communion Day. You will have received instructions in your morning Zoom and all the supplies you need were in your craft bag.
  
  Take a photo of you and your family holding up the banner... then submit using the button here:
  Upload Here
The last step is a page to return to
on your child's first communion day