Teaching Young Kids About the Real Presence

Katie Fitzgerald shares some of the ways she emphasizes reverence for the Eucharist with her young children.

A recent conversation in my circle of Catholic mom friends focused on an important question: how, when many adults don’t believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, can we instill this belief in our own children? I have since been reflecting on what we do in our family to emphasize that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

I identified a few of the practices that have served us well so far. Maybe they will help you, too.

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We teach our kids about the tabernacle starting when they are toddlers. When we enter and exit our church for Mass, I remind each child who is old enough to walk to genuflect. I always say, “Please genuflect to Jesus in the tabernacle.” This simple statement reminds all of us that we bend our knees to worship Jesus, not to acknowledge the tabernacle itself, and not just as a formality before entering or exiting a pew. I also teach the children about the red sanctuary candle, whose light lets us know when the Blessed Sacrament is in the tabernacle. When we visit churches away from home, the kids enjoy looking for the candle and the tabernacle to find out where Jesus resides in that parish.

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We are also very conscious of our attire for Mass. As my parents did with me, I require my kids to dress up for Mass. We have particular outfits reserved only for going to church, and these are truly our Sunday best. By dressing more formally than we do to go anywhere else, we have a physical reminder that we are in an important and holy space. My girls and I also opt to veil in the presence of the Eucharist. This is by no means a requirement, but I do find that having an article of clothing that we wear only to Mass helps us to keep our focus on the fact that we are participating in something set apart from everything else we do. Our veils and clothes remind us that the difference is that we are in the presence of Jesus.

During Mass, whichever young child I have sitting closest to me usually gets a whispered catechism lesson in his or her ear during the Consecration. I remind my kids under the age of reason to listen for the bells and to watch the priest elevate the host and the chalice. From an early age, I ask them what they see, and they quickly learn to say, “Jesus.” I also point out that the priest genuflects to both species of the Eucharist and I emphasize that he does this because the bread and wine have been replaced by the precious Body and Blood of Jesus. I also start teaching kids to kneel during the Consecration well before they begin to prepare for First Communion. As with our clothing, our posture reminds us where we are and why.

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Another wonderful way to help kids realize the Real Presence is to have them spend time with Jesus in the Eucharist outside of Mass. We don’t often go to Adoration during this season of family life, but sometimes we are able to sneak in a few moments after Confession. We also attend a yearly Greccio Living Nativity at a local Franciscan monastery. This is a reenactment of the story of Jesus’s birth which concludes with a priest bringing the Eucharist to the manger and everyone adoring Him in silence for several moments. When they witness other Catholics kneeling before the host in the beautiful monstrance, either on the altar in our local church or at this special yearly event, my kids can see the way the attitude of an entire group shifts in the presence of our Lord.

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Click to tweet:
We can create a family culture that shows we believe what we are taught: that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics. #CatholicMom

The Eucharist is a mystery to all of us, and we won’t always know the answers to our kids’ questions, especially as they get older. What we can do, though, is to create a family culture that shows we believe what we are taught: that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics.

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