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BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--A pale pink Japanese magnolia tree overlooks Bonnie Bishop's
second-grade classroom at St. Jude the Apostle School. The tree is a symbol of
springtime and of new life, a new life that Bishop hopes her students will
discover after receiving the Eucharist for the first time.
It is April 14, a week and a half before the second-graders will make their
first Communion. Excitement and nervousness abound as they learn more about the
sacrament and prepare for their special day. Bishop is trying to convey the
power of the Eucharist to her students, explaining that it is not a
"magic" power.
"It's peaceful, but it's not magical," she tells them. "It's
Christ-filled. You want to be good, but it doesn't make you good. You still
have to try really hard just like you're doing now."
Twenty-eight pairs of eyes, many of them set in sunburned, peeling faces
having just returned from spring break trips to Florida, focus on Bishop, eager
to know as much as they can before they make their first Communion on April 25.
Religion class is a special time for Bishop's class. The students have the
opportunity to get out of their desks for an hour, as their teacher has them
sit in a circle on a rug in the front of the room.
"We like religion because we have the opportunity to get close,"
Bishop says. "So many of the children say it's just so peaceful when we
have religion."
Today Bishop has given each child a slip of paper with the name of a
classmate written on it. She is trying to get across the importance of serving
others, especially after they have received the Eucharist. Prayer is a service,
she tells the children, and "once you have received the Eucharist, you are
much more aware of the service you can do for others."
"I want you to close your eyes," she tells them. "Think of
the person on your slip of paper and I want you to pray for peace for that
person."
Twenty-eight pairs of eyes now close, a few of them squinting and peeking to
make sure their fellow classmates are also following directions.
"How can we pray for peace for others?" Bishop asks the children.
Hands go up, and one boy, his auburn hair shaped into a bowl-cut, states
matter-of-factly why many of his classmates need prayer.
"If they get in trouble a lot, we can pray to God that they will be
better at being good," he says.
His name his J.P. Zivalich, an eight-year-old who cannot wait to receive
Communion for the first time.
"I'm excited because it will be the first time I've ever done it,"
he said. "I've always wanted to receive Communion ever since kindergarten
when I learned that's actually Jesus in the host."
A child's faith is a unique gift, not yet tainted by the world, which
sometimes causes adults to be hardened. Though the Eucharist does not look like
Jesus, J.P. knows that it is, for the simple reason that "if Jesus said it
himself it must be true, and he said it at the Last Supper."
Bishop's class has spent the past year preparing for the sacrament and J.P.
said that he has learned a lot about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and
the way it will affect his life.
"If Jesus is in me, I'm going to be more like Jesus," he said.
"We've been learning about peace and hope and love in my class, and once
you receive Jesus, you will have more peace and hope and love."
J.P. has also learned about the Eucharist from his parents who told him that
it was "a special thing." He knows that his first Communion Day will
be filled with excitement and that he will even receive gifts. However, J.P.
said that gifts are not important.
"I don't really care about all that," he said. "It's the
Eucharist I really care about."
J.P. also admits that he's a little nervous that he may drop the consecrated
host or the cup, but said he has been "asking God to help me get through
it without being too nervous."
J.P. said he cannot wait to start receiving Communion with his family and
other parishioners at St. Jude's Church, where he belongs.
"When I receive the Eucharist, I'm more a part of the church and that
means that I'm closer to doing what's right instead of what's wrong," he
said.
J.P. has obviously paid attention during Bishop's religion class. Bishop has
been teaching at St. Jude's for 14 years and said that second grade, when the
children also receive the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time, is a
"really maturing year for them in the church."
How does one begin teaching about the real presence of Christ in the
Eucharist, a concept that even adults have difficulty grasping? Bishop said
that she spends most of her time preparing the children for the responsibility
of receiving Jesus in the sacrament.
"I tell them that there are a lot of things about God that are not
visible and aren't tangible," she said. "Children innately have faith
in God and they don't have all the adult doubts and misconceptions. They're
really just wide open at this age."
Bishop said that she personally has a better understanding and appreciation
for the sacraments since she began teaching second grade four years ago after
teaching third grade for 10 years. She has become a eucharistic minister and
said that she loves being a part of the children's faith journey.
"When they make their first Communion, you cannot help but be proud of
them," she said. "Their faces, everything about them is just
incredible. They're so proud and you feel like you've been a part of the whole
thing."
It is April 25, and J.P.'s important day has arrived. He is looking very
grown up in a navy blue suit jacket and khaki pants. He wears a bright red tie
dotted with designs of baseball players.
J.P.'s parents, his sister, other family members and friends watch proudly
as he processes with his class into the church holding a candle. Little girls
dressed in white gowns and veils and little boys dressed in suits and ties try
to look ahead, but are eager to spot their parents sitting in the congregation.
"I sobbed through the whole thing," J.P.'s mother, Liz, said.
"When he came in with his class in the procession, I just started sobbing.
It was so wonderful."
In J.P.'s pocket is a special reminder of his faith, the black rosary beads
that belonged to his late grandfather. J.P.'s father, Tony, carries the rosary
with him everywhere he goes, but wanted J.P. to have it the first time he
received the Eucharist. A few days after his first Communion, J.P. said that
the rosary helped him to be less nervous.
"I was nervous until I prayed and thought of my grandpa," he said.
"He was probably watching over me at that moment."
J.P. also remembered what he had learned in Bishop's class and during first
Communion rehearsal.
"I just kept thinking, I've done this before and I can do it
again," he said.
Also helping to ease any nervousness, J.P.'s parents were able to receive
Communion along with their son. With hands outstretched, J.P. received the body
and blood of Jesus from Msgr. Daniel O'Connor, pastor of St. Jude the Apostle
Church.
"The first time he received the sacrament, Tony and I were right beside
him," Mrs. Zivalich said. "That to me was the most wonderful
thing."
Receiving the Eucharist reminded J.P. of another sacrament that he received
earlier this year.
"When I received Communion, I felt a tingly feeling, like every time I
go to reconciliation, I get that same tingly feeling," he said. "I
felt kind of strange."
J.P. and his family celebrated his first Communion with a party, where he
received Bibles, rosaries and money.
Though the gifts were not as important to him as receiving Communion for the
first time, J.P. believes that he indeed has something to celebrate.
"I just feel like I'm closer to Jesus now," he said.
J.P.'s mother said that her son is a "special child." She prays
that her son will find happiness in all that he does and continue his walk of
faith.
"It's very important to me that our family live our Catholic faith.
That's part of his being. It's who he is," she said. "I just want him
to grow in his faith and continue to be a good Catholic and a good person. This
is only the beginning of his journey."
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