Teach children how to love and delight in the Eucharist

It is one of the greatest joys of my life to share with children about the immense love of Jesus in the Eucharist. As I reflect on my experience as a religious sister and a licensed counselor, serving in a school setting and in private practice, I have a few thoughts and tips to offer to parents, grandparents, caregivers, and teachers who are preparing children for first Holy Communion.

First, take a deep breath, relax, and look at the Eucharist through the eyes of the children, not your own eyes. Children aged 7 to 9 are at a beautiful developmental stage where they are very open to this teaching. This developmental stage helps us in two specific ways: because children are logical, concrete thinkers, and because they are also inclined to what inspires them to awe and wonder. They are attracted to what seems magical.
 
As concrete thinkers, children are largely going to take us at our word. If we tell them with confidence that the Eucharist is a great miracle, they are going to believe us! As thinkers inclined toward awe and wonder, they are going to be delighted by the miracle of the Real Presence.
 
As adults, we need to remember that wonder and awe come much more naturally to children than they do to us. Let us enter their world and again “become like little children,” as the Lord invites us to do.

As for specific ways to explain this teaching, simply read John 6 to your child, almost like a story. Put wonder and awe in your voice as you then refer to the Last Supper and say, “Jesus said, ‘This is my body.’” When you visit the Blessed Sacrament together, say with delight, “The Eucharist is a miracle because Jesus wanted to be in every church in every place in the world all at once. His heart was so full of love that He desired to be present throughout the entire world and to bless the entire world with His presence! And the Real Presence of Jesus is the greatest miracle that ever happened!” They will be captivated by this.

At Mass, tell your child that Jesus gave priests the power to make sure that even though He’s with the Father in heaven, He could still be with us here on earth. That’s why priests pray this very special prayer called the Consecration over bread and wine, and then Jesus shows up to be with us and make His home inside us. He wants to live in us so that He can really walk with us every day and be very close to us—so we don’t ever have to be without Him. Tell them that because Jesus is God and a human being, He’s the most powerful person who ever walked on the earth — and He can do miracles!

Teaching children about Jesus’ love in the Eucharist is an opportunity and a gift. It is a chance to depart from our adult perspective, which can be full of doubts and limitations, and enter instead into the perspective of the children we get to care for, allowing them to restore in us a childlike faith.
 
Always be clear with children so that their logical minds have something to grasp. But also lean into the wonder and awe of this miracle — they will delight in it! And through this process, allow the Lord to rekindle your own childlike joy in His Real Presence. The more you love and delight in the Eucharist yourself, the more the children you love will be able to “catch” that enthusiasm from you.