First Communion and Confirmation time is exciting for any family. The preparations, the liturgies and the celebrations bring families together with Jesus and each other year after year. Plus, everyone loves seeing the young ones dressed to the nines!
Indeed, it’s an exciting time for any family! But for one local Denver family, that excitement was amplified recently by the fact that it all took place in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
What started as a family vacation with the entire Thomason family, cousins and grandmother included, quickly turned into a sacramental pilgrimage when the Thomason family was presented with the opportunity to receive Confirmation and First Communion in Rome.
“As my husband and I were making preparations for JohnEric’s catechesis at home for the sacraments I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if he and Kateri (his cousin) could be Confirmed and receive First Holy Communion at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome while we were there on pilgrimage with our family?’ I figured it wouldn’t happen, but it doesn’t hurt to ask,” said Nicole Thomason, JohnEric’s mother. That thought led her to ask around, eventually bringing her via email to a sister in the parish office at St. Peter’s Basilica.
“After many emails, a lot of paperwork, some phone calls, tons of coordinating and the help of St. Peter’s staff through God’s grace this beautiful celebration of the sacraments became a reality,” she continued, recalling the months of back-and-forth that ensued, following a simple idea.
JohnEric Thomason receives First Communion at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome with his dad, Mark, standing behind him. (Photo provided)
With all the coordination finished, young JohnEric and Kateri, along with their entire family, made their way to Europe on pilgrimage, visiting all four major basilicas in Rome, along with a slew of other holy sites. None, however compared to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the two received the Eucharist for the first time, and where they received the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
“The best part was being confirmed and receiving Jesus, also being with the whole Thomason family,” JohnEric shared. “After Mass, I got to go under St. Peter’s Basilica and see where the first pope, St. Peter is buried! Oh, and all the other popes too. That was really cool!”
Kateri agreed, saying, “My favorite thing was receiving the Sacraments, but I really loved that all 15 of us Thomasons were there for it. And, the day before my sacraments, we got to see Pope Francis! That was awesome because we didn’t know he was going to be there!”
Even the notorious, sweltering Italian heat couldn’t dampen the excitement of the Thomason family as JohnEric and Kateri were fully initiated into the Church that they call home.
“I converted to the Roman Catholic faith when I was in college,” Sarah Thomason, Kateri’s mom, shared, recalling her journey to the Church. That journey led her new husband and her to Rome for their honeymoon, where she felt “in my spirit that I had come home and my conversion was complete.”
While on a family vacation, JohnEric and Kateri Thomason both had the privilege to receive Confirmation and First Communion at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (Photo provided)
Years later, as her daughter received her sacraments at St. Peter’s, she couldn’t help but recall her first time in Rome.
“Bringing my children to St. Peter’s and having my daughter receive her Sacraments at the Vatican was that feeling all over again,” Sarah said. “Overwhelming gratefulness to the Lord for guiding me home, giving me an amazingly faith-filled husband and blessing me with three children who love Jesus. It felt like a reward, like a small glimpse of what it will be like to stand before the Lord and hear ‘well done, my good and faithful servant.’”
“As a mother, it is my joy to share the treasures of our faith with my five sons,” shared Nicole Thomason. “The experience of my son, JohnEric, receiving the sacraments at St. Peter’s filled me with wonder and awe for God’s infinite love and mercy for all of us. The grace poured out on JohnEric will connect him and our family to the great gift of the Universal church forever. My heart is filled with gratitude to everyone who helped make the celebration possible, but most of all to Our Lord.”