First Communion.

Where your treasure is, there is your heart.
Entrance to the church: solemn organ prelude.
Entrance song: We come to you 2x
Welcome by the priest
Dear children! The great day is here. This is the day of your first Holy Communion. I warmly welcome you, your parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters on this festive day. Jesus is already knocking. He says to you. Child, open your heart to me. I want to make you rich and happy. Yes, dear children, you also want to be satisfied when Jesus dwells in your hearts. Jesus is God, Jesus loves you, and no one can give you as much as Jesus. Now I give the floor to the children.
Welcome by EK children
1st child Paul
Dear parishioners!
Today is the day. The day of our First Communion has finally arrived! We have been preparing for it for a long time. So we First Communion children would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. We are happy to stand here to receive Jesus for the 1st time in the holy bread.
2nd child Pia
The theme of our First Communion is. Where your treasure is, so is your heart. Jesus himself is this precious treasure that we have discovered. He gives us gifts today in an extraordinary way. So let us make our hearts ready for it.
Act of Repentance
Priest: If we celebrate such a great feast today, we must do it in a community where everything that separates us and could hinder our encounter with Jesus is removed. The joy of the precious treasure is even greater.
Child 1: Jesus, you are invisible to our eyes and yet close to us. We do not always believe it.
2nd child: Jesus, you are like a good friend and companion. Sometimes we forget that.
3rd child: Jesus, you are like a precious treasure in my life. But often, something seems more important to me.
Song: Lord, have mercy
Priest: Almighty God, have mercy on us, forgive our sins, and lead us to eternal life.
Baptismal promise: Godparents go forward in pairs, light the baptismal candle on the Easter candle, present it to their godchild, and stand behind it.- Organ music
PRIEST’S INTRODUCTION: At the beginning of your life, your parents carried you to church to be baptized. They brought you to Jesus, the source of energy. At your baptism, the baptismal candle was lit in the same way. Your godparents or substitutes took the light from the Easter candle, which symbolizes Jesus himself. With this light in your hand and under the protection of your godparents, you will now make your baptismal vows:
At your baptism, you were still small. Your godparents answered for you. Today, you can answer Jesus himself. I ask you:
God created heaven and earth. He also gave us life. Like a good father and a loving mother, do you believe in God?
Yes, I believe!
Through Jesus, God showed us how much He loves us. Jesus died for us. He rose from the dead. Do you believe in Jesus?
Yes, I believe!
The Holy Spirit gives us joy in life. He makes us strong. He is our helper. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
Yes, I believe.
Jesus wants to be our friend. Do you like this friendship with Jesus?
Yes, I do!
Jesus wants more joy, love, and peace in the world. Do you want to help make life on earth more beautiful?
Yes, I do!
/Children blow out candles and hand them to the godparents, who go into the pews/.
Gloria: Gloria, Gloria, Glory to God
Prayer of the day
Reading
Reading from the book of Proverbs/2,1-7a/
If you accept my words and heed my commandments, if you give ear to wisdom, if you incline your heart to insight, if you cry out for knowledge, if you ask for understanding with a loud voice, if you seek it like silver, if you search for it like for treasures, then you will understand God’s greatness and know what God is like. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and insight. For those who strive to live well, he has helped in-store.
Word of the living God.
Thanks are to God
Interlude: Word, word, God’s word.
Evangelism: Where your treasure is, there your heart is also Lk 12, 33-34
Homily
Dear children, today is a great day for you. You are going to receive Jesus in your heart for the first time. You already know who Jesus is. Jesus is our greatest treasure. I ask you a question: do you know what is asked of you? It is love. Will it be difficult for you to awaken love in yourselves before Holy Communion? Certainly not. You only need to remember how dear Jesus is to you. He gave his life for you. How much he must love you! And it was not enough for him to give his life for you. In Holy Communion, he wants to give himself entirely to you. He wants to be in you and remain in you. Before Holy Communion, think of his love and goodness and say, “Oh, Jesus, when I think of how much you love me, I know what I would like to tell you. I want to love you with all my heart. I love you more than anything in the world. I want to be entirely your child. I want to be all yours and always do only what you want me to do. How can you awaken love before Holy Communion? If you love Jesus, you will undoubtedly have desire and longing for him. Say to Jesus: Oh, Jesus, come to me at last. My heart is already longing for you. You are all my happiness; you are my treasure. Jesus will gladly come to you when he sees that you long for him. And what will you think after Holy Communion, and what will you say to Jesus? First of all, remember who is with you now. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus is sitting in heaven on an indescribably gloriously luminous throne. Around him, Our Lady and the innumerable hosts of angels and saints are standing and kneeling, singing their praises to him. After Holy Communion, however, Jesus has also opened his throne in your hearts. You can say to him: Holy, holy, holy are you, Jesus. All the world is full of your glory. So what is the first thing you should do after Holy Communion? You should worship Jesus. What will be the second thing? You must thank Jesus. He is always exceedingly kind and bountiful to you. But he gives you the greatest and the best in Holy Communion. There he shows himself to you. There is nothing more significant and more beautiful if he gives himself, his body and blood, his soul, his divinity to you, how dear he must be to you. Thank him for it with all your heart. Say to him: I thank you, Jesus, for loving me and coming to me. Because Jesus will give himself entirely to you, you should also provide him with something. What do you think? He wants you to give him your heart. Therefore, after Holy Communion, say to Him. Oh, Jesus, with joy, I now give you my heart and myself ultimately. Amen
Intercessions
Let us now pray to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He has prepared the table for us and given us the food of life.
1st child: Good God, we are happy that we can receive communion for the first time today. This is an excellent day for us. Open our hearts to this gift and let us feel that the Holy Bread is a precious treasure that makes our lives rich.
All: We ask you to hear us.
2nd child: Communion means community. We have prepared together for a great feast. It was wonderful. Let us come here often in the future and celebrate with you.
Mother: Good God, when we baptized our children, we promised that we would be an excellent example for them and help them grow more and more into the Christian community. Grant that our children may feel that your love for us and faith in you are treasures that give meaning and depth to our lives.
Father: Good God, there is so much that can make our lives rich. Our children are such a treasure of it. You have entrusted them to us, and we thank you for it. We want to encourage and accompany them in love so that they can develop their abilities and use them for themselves and others.
Table Mother: Good God, we table mothers have accompanied these children for a while, and together with them, we have tried to get to know you better and better. Together, we experienced beautiful hours when we could discover many new treasures of life and faith. For this, we thank you. Grant that you will not only be incredibly precious to them today but that Jesus is the Holy Bread will continually strengthen and accompany them.
Priest: Merciful God, hear these and all other petitions, through Christ our Lord. Amen
Offertory Song: In the gifts, we bring 1-3 parts.
Offertory: 5 children bring bread, wine, and candles to the altar.
Priest. Pray to God the Father Almighty, brothers and sisters, that He may accept this gift for His praise and the salvation of the whole Church.
1. child /bread/ Good God, we bring you bread. It grew from many grains. Again and again, it had to change. Transform it into your body.
2nd child /Cup/ Good God, we bring the wine. From many sweet grapes, it was pressed. Let this wine be a sign of joy and communion.
3rd child/candle/ We also bring our candles to the altar. They are a sign of your warmth and closeness. Whenever they burn, they remind us that you are there.
Priest: Good God, we have brought bread, wine, and candles to the altar. We need solid food to live, but love, security, and meaning. Transform these gifts for us into the treasure of life. Let us recognize in them Jesus, who is always there for us.
Daily Prayer
Preface
Sanctus
Our Father prayed-children joined hands and formed a circle with priests and altar servers.
Greeting of peace: Squeeze hands-peace passes through all.
Agnus Dei prayed
Song before communion: Bread in my hand
Communion: children all go in pairs to the center aisle.
Organ music
Prayer of Thanksgiving:
1st child: Good God! You have given us rich gifts today. We thank you for everything. We thank you, especially for Jesus, who came to us in the holy bread and made our lives even more prosperous.
2nd child: Now we also want to thank all those who celebrated with us. We thank you heartfelt to those who helped make this day a beautiful celebration.
Song of thanks: We say thank you
Closing prayer
Benediction:
Theme: Great God, we praise you.
Excerpt
Community photo