In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of great price. Once the man and the merchant recognise what they have found, everything changes. They rearrange their lives. They let go of lesser things. They make room for what is truly precious. That is what happens when something has real value. We protect it. We prepare for it. We change things because we have discovered something greater.
Over the coming months, we will make some important changes to the way families prepare for the sacraments in our parishes. These changes are not because the sacraments matter less. They are because the sacraments matter so much. Baptism is a treasure. Holy Communion is a treasure. Confirmation is a treasure. In the sacraments, Jesus Christ acts. God gives his grace. A person is drawn more deeply into the life of Christ and his Church. But over many years, the way preparation for the sacraments has developed has not always helped people recognise that treasure.
Too often, a child is baptised simply because their parents were baptised, with very little question about commitment. The child may then attend a Catholic school and, on reaching a certain year group, receive First Holy Communion or Confirmation. For too many children, Confirmation is the last occasion on which they are seen in their parish church.
To be clear, this is not because the children or their families are bad. It is because the process, which may have worked fifty or sixty years ago in a very different world, does not always help families today to discover the life-changing treasure of the sacraments. Too often, we have prepared people for a day without preparing them for the life which follows it. Readiness for a sacrament is not simple. It cannot be decided by age alone, because families are in very different places. Some already come to Mass each Sunday and bring their children up in a faith-filled home. Others do not come even at Christmas or Easter. They may not pray, may know very little about the faith and may not be sure what they believe. For some families, Baptism and attending a Catholic school are almost their only remaining links with the Church. We sometimes describe such people as “lapsed Catholics”, but many have never really practised the faith themselves. They were brought up in much the same way. This is not about blaming them. It is about recognising that a system designed for a very different world no longer gives many families what they need.
Acknowledging this painful reality, we are moving away from a system in which sacraments happen automatically at a certain age, towards a process in which the parish accompanies families and helps them become ready. Readiness does not mean perfection. It means a real willingness to begin: to come to Mass, to learn, to pray, to make faith part of family life and to allow the parish to help. And when someone is not ready, the answer will not simply be “no”. It will be “not yet”. “Not yet” does not mean rejection. It means: let us walk with you; let us help you take the next step. This will begin with Baptism.
When parents bring a child for Baptism, they promise to bring that child up in the Catholic faith. An essential part of that promise is Sunday Mass. So, when parents ask about Baptism but are not attending Mass, we will have to say, “Not yet.” But we will invite them to begin coming to Mass and to ask again after a few months. This is not about earning Baptism. God’s grace cannot be earned. But it makes no sense to promise publicly that we will bring a child up in the Catholic faith while having no intention of living that faith ourselves.
The same approach will guide First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. For younger children going into Year Three this year, we will introduce GIFT: Growing in Faith Together. This will be a monthly gathering for parents and children to grow in faith together: worshipping together, learning together and becoming part of the parish community together. When the child, the parents and the parish together recognise that the child is ready, there will then be a short period of specific preparation for the sacrament. Importantly, we will no longer be working towards every child receiving the sacraments during one large celebration simply because they are in the same school year. Each child will receive First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion when they are ready. First Holy Communion will normally be celebrated during an ordinary Sunday Mass, surrounded by the parish community of which the child and family are becoming part.
The key principle is this: The date should follow readiness; readiness should not be invented to fit the date. Regular participation in Sunday Mass and GIFT will be the ordinary way in which we get to know, support and accompany families. But readiness is not simply another attendance test. It is about whether the child and family are genuinely beginning to live the faith and understand the sacrament they are asking to receive. The great advantage of this approach is that our normal answer need never be a final “no”. It can be: “Not yet — but let us help you take the next step.” There are other benefits as well.
Families will receive more support. Parents will have the chance to grow in faith alongside their children and will be helped to take responsibility for teaching their children the faith. The parish will get to know its families and support them when there are difficulties. The sacraments will become part of an ongoing Christian life rather than isolated events. But there will also be difficulties. It will ask more of parents. It will ask a great deal more of the parish. Some families may need longer and may be unhappy about that. Some children may not receive at the same time as their classmates or older brothers and sisters did. But something being easier does not necessarily mean it is better.
Our task is not simply to organise a lovely day. Our task is to help people discover the treasure of Jesus Christ and become his disciples. Confirmation will also become more clearly a parish celebration. The parish must know the young people through their attendance at Holy Mass and be able honestly to present them to the bishop as ready to receive the sacrament. We will not yet be running GIFT for the older children, simply because the parish does not currently have the people or resources to do that properly. It is also more difficult to have confirmations celebrated on multiple occasions throughout the year as it is ordinarily administered by the bishop.
All of this concerns the whole parish. Many of you are grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles or family friends. You may be the person who helps a family begin coming to Mass after being away for a long time. You may need to explain that “not yet” is not rejection. You may need to encourage someone who feels nervous or unsure. We will also need parishioners who are willing to welcome families, help with children, prepare food, share their faith and assist with GIFT sessions. More information about how you can help will follow.
All of us will be needed to make our churches as welcoming as possible for these families. This is part of a wider renewal of the Divine Mercy Partnership. During August, I will speak about the kind of parish God is calling us to become: a parish which helps adults encounter Jesus, welcomes those who are searching, supports families, prepares people properly for the sacraments and gives every parishioner a part in its mission.
Then, during September, we will consider how each of us can support that mission through prayer, service and, according to our means, planned financial giving. At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. That is what we are trying to do.
The treasure itself is not changing. Jesus Christ is the same. The faith of the Church is the same. The sacraments are the same gifts of grace. But the way we help people discover and receive that treasure must sometimes change. The purpose is not to put more hurdles in front of families. It is to help them discover a treasure so great that faith is no longer simply one event in the diary.