I’d been walking, pacing, and fiddling for three days prior to my son’s First Holy Communion. I’d walk around the kitchen opening and closing the refrigerator for no reason. At the time I had no idea why.

My always wise wife pointed out that, even though my son was nervous about receiving his First Holy Communion, I was more nervous.

As I said, that went on for a few days. I was nervous for several reasons. I had done the First Communion and Confession catechesis for the children. I had done the practices. The first confessions went very well. Yet, I was still nervous. Did they get it? Did they understand?

On the way home from baseball the evening before First Communion Sunday my son was talking to me. He was asking about the pre-communion fast. It’s two hours in the PNCC. He told me the following:

A.: Dad, how long do we fast before communion?
D.: Two hours.
A.: Do you know why dad? Because we need to be hungry for Jesus. We don’t need breakfast food – we need Jesus as our food.

I stopped being nervous from that point forward. I knew they understood.