Holy Baptism

God cannot start too early to look after our souls, and so the first Sacrament, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, is all ready for us as soon as we are born.  So when you, or most of you, were a few weeks old you were brought to the church, and the priest baptised you with water at the font, and God the Holy Spirit came into your soul making you a member of his Church.

Confirmation

The grace we receive at that time in Baptism in enough for us while we are small, but as soon as we begin to grow up and face new difficulties and temptations so we need new grace to strengthen our souls.  And this is given in the Sacrament of Confirmation, for when the bishop lays hands of your head, God the Holy Spirit fills your soul, making you a full member of the Church and a well-equipped soldier of Christ.

Reconciliation or Penance

But before you are confirmed, you prepare your soul for the coming of the Holy Spirit so that it may be as pure and clean and worthy as can be.  So you make your first Confession and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) your soul is made white and you receive God’s forgiveness.

Holy Communion

In most churches, you make your first Communion after you have been confirmed.  In some churches, however, you make you first Communion before you are confirmed.  When you make your first Communion you kneel at the altar rails and receive the Blessed Sacrament of Our Lord’s Ascended Body, and he and you are made one.

You’ll notice that we’ve talked about your first Confession and first Communion.  It is a good rule to make your Confession regularly all through your life in order to keep your soul clean and close to God.  And you should make your Communion regularly and frequently all through your life so that Jesus and you may always be part of one another.  We can think of these as twin Sacraments, the one separating us from sin and the other uniting us to God.