Listen to God's voice at the foot of the crucifix." ~St. Gaspar del Bufaro~

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sacramental Joy

It was a day of Joy...
Sprinkled with a tinge of sadness...
It was no coincidence that we started our morning here at our Parish shrine with a prayer, asking Our Lady to deliver our requests to her Son, Jesus.  We prayed for all of the First Communicants and for some dear parish friends, The Silva's.  Mrs. Silva has been the primary First Holy Communion Catechist at our parish, teaching the Catechism for 39 years!  Her husband has been in Intensive Care and Mrs. Silva had been by his side every moment.  They have been married for 59 years.  She had been fretting all week about possibly having to miss the First Holy Communion Mass for the first time in 39 years. 
Just as we finished our prayer, we were greeted by another Catechist who informed us that Mr. Silva had passed away.  We felt that human pang of loss, paralyzing us for a few moments, knowing how hard this must be for the family. It was tough news.  Looking upward to the heavens, we paused with a smile through our sadness... and moved forward, knowing that Mrs. Silva would not want the children to be sad.  The Sacrament of pure joy is what she has devoted much of her life to.  She would want all of us to be happy.  The Silvas in their devout faith will be showered by pure love today, brought forth from many children receiving Jesus.
The church was lovely.
It seemed to reflect the sheer innocence and joy prepared for the children.
The Lord was beckoning "Let the children come to me."
And here they come!

They waited patiently with quiet excitement brewing!
They all delivered flowers to the altar for the Holy Family and Our Lady...
Princess was a bit nervous but honored to do the Second Reading.
Jesus, the Bread of Life was triumphant!
Princess was beaming with joy afterwards!
~Here she is with Godmother Aunt Leigh Anne~
(My youngest sister)
And we finally got a family photo...NOT perfect but at least we are all together! 
We had a yummy brunch afterwards...

Our Brunch Menu:
Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Strata
Mini Breakfast Muffins
Grape Skewers
Fresh Strawberries
Trinity Veggie Platter
Holy Cross Salami and Cheese
Sourdough Rolls
Triple Chocolate Fudge (With whipped white frosting) Cross Cake
I made the cake(s) the day before with a Cross cake pan...
It's a long story but we ended up with 2 cakes because 1 of them cracked in the middle.  It turned out we were able to fix it with frosting.  This was the original that we thought couldn't be salvaged...Believe it or not, we didn't have that much left over!
We gave out personalized holy cards for party favors...
My Mom framed the invitation and gave it to Princess for a little extra gift!  We dressed up and took photos prior to First Holy Communion.  Using one of these photos, I ordered invitations from Shutterfly. They actually have some nice First Communion designs!
There's nothing in the world like Sacramental Joy!
If interested, you may keep reading more about our weekend (Part 2)=

8 comments:

  1. What a beautiful celebration, Tiffany! Your daughter looks so beautiful in her dress and your buffet table looks delicious. I love that the children brought in bouquets to give to Our Lady. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. princess was glowing with grace & joy.
    you created a beautiful faithfilled celebration.

    i love the family photo.

    please share your joy at my (perpetual) linky party, FIRST COMMUNION JOY. http://joyfilledfamily.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-communion-joy.html

    pax Christi - lena

    ReplyDelete
  3. the cake is beyond cute!
    may you continue to bless us all with your creations.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have goose bumps!!!!

    P.S. The bouquets of flowers were so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, my so much in one weekend!!! Congratulations and God bless your sweet girl!
    She looked beautiful!

    I love your menu---hoping you link it on Catholic Cuisuine so I remember next year when I have another FHC!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think the family picture is indeed perfect! Your daughter looked beautiful! So exciting! +JMJ+

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations to your daughter! What a wonderful day you had!

    My daughter received her First Holy Communion this weekend, too. It is such a beautiful sight, to watch your child receive Jesus for the very first time. Words just don't express what I felt!

    God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations! What a beautiful day and pictures! I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your family friend. When my daughter received her First Communion, a family member passed away the day after her communion mass. So it's a bittersweet day for us too! God bless!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...