I’m a school principal. We need to talk about what First Holy Communion has become |
I was out for a few drinks and got chatting to a psychologist. She began telling me about her daughter’s upcoming First Communion. She talked about how difficult it was to get a bouncy castle, the weeks spent doing up the house and garden and the cost of the catering. She said jokingly that all the planning, the stress and the money was worse than her wedding. “The worst part,” she said, “is that I don’t even believe in any of it.”
I didn’t say anything. After all, we were in a pub and I didn’t know her very well. She was talking to me as if all of this were the most normal thing in the world. I’m sure she assumed I had gone through the same rituals when my child was in second class. I hear a lot of these conversations and what strikes me isn’t the lack of belief. It’s that it doesn’t seem to matter.
I’m not a psychologist, but I am a teacher. I’m also the parent of a child who didn’t make his Communion. Thousands of parents are in the same situation and this time of the year can feel isolating. We seem to have built a culture around an important religious sacrament where many taking part are unsure what they believe. I’ll admit I find that unsettling.
In most Irish primary schools preparation for First Communion is woven into the fabric of school life. I know this because I taught second class. Once January came along, the curriculum became completely integrated into sacramental........