Dear Friends,
We heard from Deuteronomy 6 a few Sundays ago, and Jesus reiterated it when asked which is the first of all the commandments: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.” Depending on the translation, Deuteronomy 6 continues with these words, “Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children.” The problem for the Israelites time and again was the fact that they failed to repeat these words to their children, and because of that, their children fell into the snares of foreign religions—in essence, idolatry. This idolatry usually leads to slavery, not simply in the spiritual sense, but also slavery to foreign powers. God sent prophets to call the people of Israel back to living and repeating the words Deuteronomy 6. In many ways, things have not changed today.
Nevertheless, there are many parents today who do repeat these words to their children. There are parents teaching their children to love God above all else and love their neighbor as themselves. There are parents who bring their children to Mass week in and week out, even when those children are young, ornery, restless, and maybe even a little combative. These parents are to be commended and lauded for the sacrifices they make to raise their children in the Catholic faith. Another priest has stated it more eloquently than I have, saying, “The screams/cries/crashes of those guys fill the parents with dread. Meanwhile, all I can think about is how generous these parents are being to the Lord: getting kids out of bed, fed, washed up, dressed, into the car, out of the car, and sitting there for nearly an hour...it fills me with nothing but love and respect for those parents! And it teaches us all a valuable lesson: those parents are saying, ‘Even all this for my relationship with God!’ Frankly, that’s usually a better homily than the one I’m giving!”
Along these lines, I know some parents may lament that they get nothing out of Mass because they’re trying to keep their kids relatively in line. Without a doubt, it can feel like it was a wasted hour. Echoing the words above, I want to assure you that the hour at Mass with your kids was not wasted. I encourage and urge you to keep coming to Mass, even when you feel as though you get nothing of out Mass. God sees your efforts, your frustrations, your sacrifices to bring your children to Mass, and God will bless you for your fidelity. In the long term, you will see the fruits of your efforts and sacrifices. We come to Mass primarily to offer our worship, our sacrifices, ourselves, and in turn God transforms what we bring for our good and the good of others.
Having said all of this, I want to share some reasons for moving away from offering Children’s Liturgy of the Word, a decision made in conversation with the Parish Leadership Team and both parish staffs. As an opening remark, I want to state that crying and restless children are not a distraction to me, and while they may be a distraction to some, I want to see and hear children at Mass: if the church isn’t crying, then it’s dying. Children’s Liturgy of the Word does create an artificial interruption in the Mass when the children gather, taking away from the solemnity and focus of the Mass.
I am a firm believer that the best way for children to learn how to behave at Mass is for them to be at Mass, even when they may not understand everything going on at Mass. How many of us fully comprehend what’s going on, including myself? In order to help children follow what’s going on at Mass, we are providing age appropriate books for young children to see and learn about what is happening at Mass. Feel free to use them at Mass, but please return them. Additionally, we are also placing a collection basket up by the altar so that children can place a few coins or a few dollars, helping them to understand and participate in offering themselves to God at Mass.
We are saints under construction, repeating to our children the words of God and teaching them to love God and love each other. Have a great week!
In Christ,
Fr. Matt