The Christmas season is almost over.

Yes, it’s still Christmas even though it’s already January. Christmas will end on the Baptism of our Lord this month.

So, we can still greet each other Merry Christmas and give Christmas cards or gifts to each other.

That is also why I am writing about my Christmas gift to my youngest son in this blog post.

I gave my 8-year-old child several gifts for Christmas. We gave him a waterproof jacket with a hood and dinosaur designs. We gave him new shoes and clothes. We gave him new underwear with a dinosaur design also. We gave him a new toy.

But my real Christmas gift to him, which I believe is the most important is Jesus. To be more specific, it is receiving Jesus’ body and blood through Holy Communion.

It took a lot of planning and coordination to give him this gift.

I started preparing for it many months ahead of Advent.

First, I looked for a church or parish that offers online catechism for those preparing for their First Holy Communion. Since my older child had his online catechism also at Christ the King, Green Meadows Parish, I checked their schedule again this year. I was delighted to find out that they had one towards the end of the year and the classes would be finished by November last year. Perfect for a First Holy Communion during the Advent Season!

I made sure that my youngest child was able to attend all his online catechism classes.

Then, come November, we scheduled his First Confession. He went to Confession at Greenbelt Chapel with the rest of our family members. In the past, he would just tag along with us and wait in one of the pews while we went to Confession. That day, he was already one with us. We even got to take photos.

We were already excited about scheduling his First Holy Communion after his First Confession when we all got sick in the family during the last 2 weeks of Advent.

But thanks be to God for hearing our prayers! We all got well soon enough and I got to coordinate with the parish for my son to be allowed to have his First Holy Communion on the last Sunday of Advent.

This was a big favor from God through Christ the King Parish! They don’t normally schedule First Holy Communions on Sundays and we’re not even from their parish. But God is truly gracious and He granted the desire of my heart and my youngest son’s heart!

We even got to pick the noon Mass as the Mass where our son will have his First Holy Communion.

Everything went well that day and we even got to take lots of photos.

We also got to celebrate this momentous event at a restaurant with an al fresco dining area.

We got to buy a cake for our son, too.

And because he already had his First Holy Communion on the last Sunday of Advent, he was able to receive Holy Communion as well in the next Masses that we attend in church. These were during the Simbang Gabi Masses in our parish and the Christmas Eve Mass. There was even a time when my husband, who is a Minister for the Holy Eucharist, was the one who gave the Sacred Host to our son.

What joy! This was one of the things that made my mommy’s heart really happy this Christmas! Paving the way for my youngest child to receive Jesus!