I have spent most of my life in the state that gave the world the assembly line in 1913. Henry Ford invented this novel approach to production in Highland Park, MI, to help produce cars for Americans at a much faster and more economical rate than before. The very idea of an assembly line has made its way into many production companies. But sadly, it can also infect the way we treat religious formation and instruction for the first reception of the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.

In my childhood parish, even while the Sacrament of Penance was (wrongly) delayed until fourth grade, and First Holy Communion was celebrated in second grade, it was very much an assembly-line approach. All students in that grade were presumed to have magically reached the age of reason, were given the same book to study with the class at the same rate, and then all prepared for reception of the sacraments on the same Saturday. We all got dressed up (not as much for the Sacrament of Penance) and were brought to the church to celebrate the sacraments as a class.

This was generally the same approach during my first years of priesthood. In my first three assignments over 11 years, I followed what was given to me, in keeping with the common practice of many directors of religious education and second-grade teachers (the Sacrament of Penance rightly being returned as a precursor to receiving the Eucharist for the first time).

Sacramental Specifics

Through my seminary education and further study at the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL, I came to recognize a largely ubiquitous yet seldom-addressed issue in post-baptismal sacramental preparation for youth (e.g., Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation). Anyone who works with young people knows that they mature in distinct ways and at different rates. Yes, there are certain common benchmarks, but each child is unique and may or may not be ready for sacramental celebrations at a specific time. Not every child may be ready during Lent of the second-grade year to make a good confession. Not every child may be ready to receive the Eucharist for the first time on the first Saturday of May of the second-grade year.

So, at St. Matthew Parish, with the hearty support of my Director of Faith Formation, we set out to take a more “Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) approach” to preparation for the Sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist, and Confirmation. For the purposes of this article, I’ll focus on the first two sacraments listed. By saying that we took a more OCIA approach, I mean that we dealt with each child and each family individually, and worked with them based upon their receptivity to the sacraments, rather than the common assembly-line approach that I had experienced as a child and as a young parochial vicar and pastor.

Pope St. Pius X rightly legislated that, “The age of discretion, both for Confession and for Holy Communion, is the time when a child begins to reason, that is about the seventh year, more or less.”¹ But the suggestion of the age of seven easily became the norm, without consideration that a child might be rightly disposed for the two sacraments earlier. Indeed, Pope St. Pius X quotes the Fourth Lateran Ecumenical Council (1215) and notes that children need to fulfill their Easter duty “as soon as they arrive at the years of discretion.”² So while seven years of age became the presumptive threshold for receiving both sacraments, the saintly pontiff did not intend that it would prevent younger children who had attained the use of reason from making their first confession and their first Holy Communion.

Theory in Practice

How do we accomplish such a feat at St. Matthew Parish? We publicize, on a regular basis, that parents, as the first teachers of their children in the faith, are to communicate with the parish when they feel their child is well-disposed to confess and receive the Eucharist. There is a dialogue between the Director of Faith Formation and the parents as to why they feel their child is ready, and then we equip parents to form their children in the faith, offering different approved options for formation for the two sacraments. We require the family (parents and child) to attend Mass regularly in order to proceed. If families can’t attend Mass regularly, their child (and they) are clearly not well-disposed to receive the Eucharist at that time.

Once parents have completed the formation exercises with their children, they return to the parish and the children are questioned about their readiness. For confession, they need to be able to know the difference between right and wrong, sin and accidents, and mortal and venial sins. They also have to know (but not necessarily memorize) an Act of Contrition, and be able to say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. For the Eucharist, following the teaching of Pope St. Pius X, they need to be able to distinguish the Eucharist from ordinary bread, and understand that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. I also ask them about who changes the bread and wine into the Eucharist, and if the Eucharist remains the Body and Blood of Christ after the Mass.

When the child has provided proof of his or her formation and readiness, we set a date for that first confession and first Holy Communion that works well with the family. We don’t celebrate first Holy Communions during Advent or Lent to avoid the penitential seasons, but on any other Sunday, the child can receive the Lord for the first time in the Eucharist. This means that, outside of Advent and Lent, when the child is ready to receive the Lord, he or she doesn’t have to wait until May. We do invite all the children who have made their first Holy Communion to process in a group at our annual Corpus Christi procession, all dressed up in their first Holy Communion finery. At least this way parents get to use that dress or suit twice.

Parental Guidance

The Lord invited the children to come to him (Matthew 19:14). By empowering parents to help form their children (and we have some families who attend Catholic schools, some families who homeschool, and some families who attend public schools) when they feel their child is ready, we don’t make the child wait any longer than necessary. Yes, it does take a little more effort for the Director of Faith Formation to have individual meetings with parents, but it also helps make sure that the families understand the importance of the Eucharistic celebration and ensure that the child truly is well-disposed to receive the Lord. We see much better participation at weekly Mass by families and we avoid the assembly-line mentality that doesn’t treat the child as an individual disciple, but more like a generic part to fit into the manufacturing of parish life. Assembly lines are great for cars and Michigan, but not for sacramental preparation and providing opportunities to encounter the Lord.

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1. Quam singulari, no. 1, Pope Pius X, August 8, 1910, https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius10/p10quam.htm (accessed March 17, 2026).
2. Ibid. For canon 21 of the Fourth Lateran Council, see Norman Tanner, S.J., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990), 245.