John's Second First Communion

We had the distinct pleasure to attend the St. Anastasia First Communion...sorry...First Eucharist ceremony yesterday (I just don't like the way that sounds. It sounds like some weird Evangelical type of ceremony). Actually, Maureen is contractually obligated to attend. Me, I was there as a guest of the Lopez Ohana. Their oldest, Dylan, was participating.

For the most part, John was a good little trooper. He did get a little fussy because he was so gosh darned tired. He kept on rubbing his eyes with his wubbie, but he couldn't fall asleep with all the singing. He did make a little friend with a nice little English 13-month old. She kept on reaching out to touch him. He then tried to do the same, but I wouldn't let him. The boy's nails are as sharp as an eagle's talons. He wouldn't let me cut them yesterday.

I do have to point out that I liked the St. Brendan's First Communion more because it was more like mine. They didn't attempt to involve all the kids and it just flowed a little better. I'm not saying that St. Anastasia's was horrible because it wasn't. Maureen's favorite part is when they call all the kids up to surround the altar during the transubstantiation. Yes, that's a nice touch and all, but I'm more of a traditionalist. Plus, the St. Brendan's ceremony was an hour long. St. Anastasia tended to lag at 80-minutes (Communion seemed to take 20-minutes) . I am not big on large ornate cermonies.

Fortunately, I had some help from John's little mommy, Miss Alley Cat. She was kind enough to help feed him and rock him in the church.

John's First First Communion

Actually, it was his third. He attended two last year (1 at St. Patrick's in Carlsbad and 1 at St. Anastasia in Los Angeles), but he was still in Maureen's tummy at the time. Anywho, we had the great privilage to attend the First Communion at St. Brendan's yesterday. I liked the fact that it started on time and ended on time. Too many times, these ceremonies start and end late. I laud the efforts of the staff at St. Brendan's for keeping it on time. And, they didn't make sure that every child was involved in some way. Nothing annoys me more than a religious ceremony where all the kids have to participate. Back in my day, two kids did the readings, two kids did the petitions, and two kids took up the gifts.

We'll see if I have the same thing to say about St. Anastasia's ceremony next week. I already have one thing against the St. A's ceremony. They refer to it as a "First Eucharist". Maureen and I had a bit of an arguement about that yesterday. She doesn't know why, but she posited that it may be more liturgically correct to call it a "First Eucharist." I don't know about you, but I like to call it First Communion since that is what it is.

By the way, he didn't attend the ceremony in his jammies and try to eat his feet. Bonehead that I am, I didn't get any shots of him in his outfit. It was a navy blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt, a nice set of white pants, and matching white shoes. He looked like he belonged at the yacht club.