Bobcat's suit

I took Bobcat shopping tonight, to get a new suit for his upcoming first communion. He looks so cute and grown up and handsome. He needs his hair trimmed around the edges, and the missing teeth add a very youthful character, but otherwise he is a pretty sharp dude. He tried it on for Mommy when we got home, and she cried. Just a little bit, but there were watery eyes. We're all three so excited. He was happy to talk about his first communion when the gentleman at the register asked him what special occasion his new suit was for. (I think a sentence is a fine thing to end a preposition with.)

Preparations are almost complete. Just two more lessons in our book, with first confession next week. I got a few unconsecrated hosts from the church last weekend for practice, so he'll be familiar with the taste and texture.

Bubba will be jealous that he isn't getting a new suit, too. Poor kid, he hates it that Bobcat is older than him.

It occurred to us a few weeks ago that we may get some strange looks when only Bobcat comes up to receive communion with us for the next year, and then when only Snookie is left out for the year after that. People always assume they're triplets because they're about the same size. (Of course their personalities are very, very different, so the birth order quickly becomes obvious to anyone who is paying attention. And while they certainly look related, they are not that similar. It's rather annoying how most people don't make an effort to tell them apart, much less learn their names. A post for another day...) Bobcat is actually a few pounds lighter and slightly shorter than Bubba, although he's the oldest. So folks will expect them all to receive at the same time. They may even think we're punishing the non-recipients.

And their non-reception will be especially obvious because we don't bring the boys up through the line with us for a "blessing". We typically sit in the front row so the boys can see what's going on, and when we adults get up to receive, we leave them seated. They are within our sight (and reach...), and even if we were seated farther back, they're able to behave well enough to sit alone for less than two minutes. So this is not only quicker and easier, but there are a couple of practical issues as well.

1) Most times, there are dozens of extraordinary ministers distributing communion in our large church. This is probably another post for another day, but in short, we aren't big fans of lay EM's. We do understand that necessity and logistics dictate having a few lines open (not just the priest and deacon, who are the "ordinary ministers"). But they use way more EM's in our parish than are really necessary. The E stands for "extraordinary", so they should only be used in extraordinary circumstances, right? At least they could serve the bread/body only and not the cup, to limit the number of lay participants. Our Lord is fully present under both species, and many folks believe the cup should not be served to the congregation unless there are enough ordinary ministers to handle it.

2) The other, and primary, issue for us is that we believe those lay people have no business "blessing" non-recipients. They have not received holy orders. And they all do it a little differently, so there is no uniformity. It especially irks the Llama when they insist on touching all those grubby little children on the heads as they handle all of those hosts. So, the children do not go through the line with us.

So, bring on the funny looks, we've gotten pretty used to those by now. If they ask what's up, we'll let Bubba and Snookie explain that they are not old enough yet. If anything, I suspect it will make them more eager to participate fully, and do all the things that go into earning that.