17 years ago, on this day, which was also a beautiful and warm Sunday, the 15th of August, 2004, I received the Eucharist for the first time.
To others, it is just a regular Sunday, like any Sunday. To me, it was more than just an occasion of rituals and celebrations. It was one of the significant milestones of my life.
I still remember how both nervous and exciting I felt that day. Besides enjoying the holy moments like anyone else, I was assigned to read the first bible reading of the mass. It was a reading from the Book of Revelation, telling the story about the fight between the woman—who represents Virgin Mary—and the seven-headed serpent. The story is very captivating and still obsesses me to this day. But it was not the most important thing about this special day of mine.
It was then the first and also one of the very few times I got a chance to receive Holy Communion under both kinds, the form of bread and wine. It was, too, the first time God came into my soul, after months of careful and thorough preparations. I even felt more blessed that it was also the day of celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, just like today.
After I received the Eucharist, then came the moment of confusion. Now that God is dwelling inside me, I did not know what to say to Him. What to pray now, I told myself. Then I remembered it is mentioned in the Bible that Jesus Christ told his disciples to pray to the Holy Spirit in the first place when they do not know how to pray. I followed the instruction. Words started flowing. After I finished the prayer of thanks (“Kinh Cảm Ơn” in Vietnamese), I paused and prayed with my own words. At that moment, I truly felt blessed. Never was God so close to me like that. I felt like I was embracing him with all my heart and my soul. Not until later that I realized that was the happiest moment of my life, happier than anything that has ever been done for me.
So that was an exceptional Sunday, 15th of August, that sparked my memory and will last forever.