13 December 1990
Punta Arenas, Chile

My dear Sisters and my dear Friends,

During the course of my life I have seldom had the joy of celebrating a Mass during which some children received the Body and Blood of Our Lord for the first time. First let me say a word to you children, for this is a very important day in your lives. All of you know what it is like to be hungry and thirsty. Perhaps you have played a game and at the end of it, you want to drink something, because you have perspired. Or perhaps you had a long walk and you came home hungry, looking for something to eat.

One day Jesus Christ had gone on a long walk and many people followed Him. As Jesus Christ was a very thoughtful person, He saw that the people were hungry and He asked his closest friends to do something. They did not know what to do, for there were no shops in the area. There was one boy who had a few pieces of bread and a few fish. They thought that was no use among a large crowd of grown-up men and women. Jesus, because He was God, took the little bit of bread, broke it and then told His close friends to share it with the people. A wonderful thing happened. That little piece of bread kept coming and coming until thousands of people had eaten of it and had had enough. It was a miracle.

Next day Jesus told the people that He would give them another sort of bread which would help them to live forever. That bread would be Himself. The people found that hard to understand. Today, by a miracle, that bread which Jesus promised is still available. You, my dear children, are going to taste that bread, which is the Body of Jesus Christ, for the first time during this Mass. It will give you strength to be a person like Jesus Christ--kind, good and unselfish. In the little white host is Jesus Christ Who is God. Jesus, although we cannot see Him, is giving you everything in Holy Communion. He does that so that you will be able to grow up into a person like Him. He wishes you to live close to Him, and He wishes to live close to you in this life, and after your death He wishes you to live with Him forever in heaven and be happy in a way that you have never been or ever will be during your life. And so, my dear children, when you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in some minutes, give Him a warm welcome into the home of your hearts.

Now let me speak to you adults. None of us can recall our coming into the world, nor can we recall the celebration of our first birthday, but is there anyone of us here who cannot remember the first occasion when we received the Body and Blood of Christ? Somebody once told me--and I do not know if it is a historical fact--that towards the end of his life Napoleon was asked what was the greatest day in his life, and he replied: "The day I made my first Holy Communion." Even today in a secularized age, the occasion when a child makes its first Holy Communion is an event in the child's life and in the life of the family. How much time is devoted to preparing children for their first Holy Communion. How much money is still spent on new clothes for children on the occasion of their first Holy Communion. So much work and so much expense for the first Holy Communion, and must we say that it stops there? There is a second Holy Communion and a third Holy Communion. There was the Holy Communion of yesterday and there is the Holy Communion of this morning.The excitement of the first Holy Communion has passed into our memories, but it is still the same Lord, Who is giving Himself, as we were taught, body and blood, soul and divinity, to be the food of our souls. It is still the same Lord, Who is providing us with the food for our journey towards eternity. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever." (Heb 13:8).

The word, Eucharist, means thanksgiving. Each Holy Communion should make us more grateful to God for all the gifts He has given us. There is a beautiful prayer of St. Thomas More who always kept his heart detached from the things of this life, even when he was rich and enjoyed much favor from King Henry VIII. In the end the King took everything from St. Thomas, even his life. Nevertheless, St. Thomas continued to pray: "Thanks be to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for all that You have given me. Thanks be to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for all that You have taken from me. Thanks be to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for all that You have left me."

On this day when we rejoice to see children receive the Eucharist for the first time, may God give us the grace to be grateful for everything He has given us in Christ, and to show our gratitude by generosity to others, especially those who have received so much less than we have.