Dear Sacramental Parents,

St. Thomas More welcomes you to this most wonderful year! Celebrating a sacrament for the first time is an important step in the life of your child as a Catholic Christian. As part of the formal preparation for First Reconciliation, we wish to keep you informed of what we are teaching. We will have your child bring home a letter summarizing what was covered in class that day in a binder that he/she will bring to and from class each week. This will enable you to discuss the lesson at home, to anticipate some questions your child might ask, and to share some of your insights about reconciliation and forgiveness. We will also include suggestions for activities that you can do together at home as a family. Since your child's infancy, you have been teaching him or her how to make good choices and recognize the difference between good and bad actions. Perhaps one way you did this was when your child was unkind to another family member. This important task of teaching your child to make good choices also took place when you explained how to share, how to speak respectfully to others, and how to play fairly. You modeled these behaviors too perhaps when you said you were sorry for being unkind. Such actions taught your child to do the same. It is our sincere hope that these home letters will help you and your child communicate more easily about decisions he or she makes to live a as child of God. These weeks of preparation for First Reconciliation can lead to many years of comfortable discussions as your child continues to grow and learn from God, from you, and from the Saint Thomas More Church faith community.