I was at Mass this past Sunday, and was helping with the storytime (dismissal of the children) for the older (not preschoolers) children. Usually there's just a knock on the door, and the kids go back in during offertory. The storyteller had not finished (they have each child read the different parts), and wanted to finish, but the person knocking said they *had* to go back.

Why? Most of the children were having enough trouble behaving as it was, and from listening to them read, many were not advanced enough to keep themselves occupied reading the missalette (yes, I know they should be praying, but at least they're quiet and not fidgeting, and many people learn better through reading rather than listening anyway) when they went back to church. They were still getting more out of what they were learning in the hall than from what was going on at Mass.

Any thoughts on this? I've heard of a Children's Liturgy, but I much more often see what is termed a "Family Mass", but it is just either the normal 9:30am Mass, or 6pm Mass--nothing different in the liturgy at all.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 20, 2003

Answers

Hi GT,

I can only speak from the experience I have with the procedure I have with the Children's Liturgy at my parish. They try to time the children coming back into Mass so that they are not coming in during the consecration. Usually it is during the offertory and presentation of the gifts, but if they (the children) are running late, then they keep them in the children's room until the Our Father. However on the few occasions that the children's liturgy was running long, parents were getting concerned and going OUT during the consecration to find out what was keeping them!

Hope this helps!

-- cksunshine (ck_sunshine@hotmail.com), January 20, 2003.

Thanks, CKSunshine.

I just think that children would get more out of Mass if they stayed the entire time at the Children's Liturgy. Not all of them are of the age to receive the Eucharist, and even of those that are, not all of them go up to receive it. What if the person teaching the class is an extraordinary minister, and could distribute the Eucharist then? I know the parents in our church don't seem to mind when they're late (they know where they are:)).

I don't know what the age limit is for when they go back to regular Mass full time--I sometimes get more out of the Children's Liturgy than I do from regular Mass because of the way the message is presented.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 21, 2003.

GT, The 'storytime' during Mass you referred to is what is commonly called Children's Liturgy. This is actually 'Liturgy of the Word for Children'. Children's Liturgy does not refer to any other part of the Mass. The children are able to go out and listen to God's word in this way beacause the Word is being delivered in an 'age appropriate' manner, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that this is how we are to catechise. It's important that the children go back to the church before the Consecration, as the children are part of the parish community, they are part of the Body of Christ, they will learn their faith not only through being taught but by following the example of the other parisioners. They actually NEED to be in Mass during the Consecration as part of their preparation for receiving their First Eucharist...the earlier the better! Every part of the Mass is explained to children, and it's explained how bells are rung during particularly important times, i.e. the Consecration. Children understand much more than we give them credit for! During catechesis for the sacraments our children are taught how Jesus loved them, how He said that children are the greatest in God's Kingdom, how he told the disciples to bring the little children to him. If children are fidgeting in Mass then Jesus would understand. They won't learn not to fidget by being excluded from the Mass, they need to be welcomed and we need to make allowances for their youth; and hopefully by our example they will learn the appropriate behaviour during Mass. From the youngest baby to the oldest person in our parish, we are all connected through our Baptism....as we tell the children: We do not make our Christian journey alone, we are all connected.

God bless Sara

-- (Sara@yahoo.com), January 21, 2003.

Hi Sara,

Ours is conducted more like a storytime/play(acting), and they can barely get in one reading's lesson before going back, let alone the gospel or the 2nd reading. There is absolutely nothing else taught-- there are separate CCD-type (I forgot the new name) classes for First Communion preparation, and there are family-oriented (teach at home) religious curriculae available to purchase (I am surprised that this sort of thing is not available free on the net--it should be).

I always thought a true Children's Liturgy was (and should be) an entire Mass (or at least a Communion Service) at children's level. We used to have a priest years ago who would let the children all stand/ sit right next to the altar to be able to see exactly what was going on. It was much more interesting for them than sitting with their parents. Our church has missalettes geared towards children, but I don't think they contain the readings (money issue, the adults only have the Breaking Bread 1-year songbook) either.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 21, 2003.

Hi again GT :-) I do realise that the children aren't being prepared for reception of the sacraments during Liturgy of the Word which takes place during Mass. Perhaps I didn't say clearly what I meant in my last reply. What I intended to portray was that children, whether being catechised for their sacraments by school, parish catechists, or home, need to be exposed to/experience the Mass. This is particularly true in the case of preparation for First Eucharist where one of the main things taught is the actual structure of the Mass. As I'm sure you're aware, children should not only be catechised in the Faith at times of sacramental preparation, but as an on-going learning process. Whoever is catechising children finds it much easier if the children are actually brought to Mass, as the children tend to absorb more of what is taught and to have a personal experience to relate to. Regarding what you said about materials on a child's level. I know that it can be difficult to find suitable material and understand what you say about free material being available on the net. However, in most cases there is copyright on religious education material and prayer books, as it can be expensive to create. I suppose really we have to pay just wages to the labourer :-) Perhaps the priest would consider buying some new material for the children if it's not a very poor parish? Maybe you should suggest that to him! If it's a poor parish you may find that there is a pastoral charity within your diocese that would be able to help you out. If neither of these work, why not consider writing some photocopiable prayerbooks yourself, with the help of your priest?

God bless

-- (Sara@yahoo.com), January 21, 2003.

I feel that all religious education should be free or at a nominal cost (just to cover printing, for example), not a be a profit center for anyone.

For example, you can get a free Bible from the Mormons, but not from the Catholic Church. You can get a free New Testament from The Gideons on the street corners once a year across from the schools where some friends live (small town, and yes, people write nasty notes to the newspaper about these "awful people" on a public street corner, conveniently forgetting about the people their children are exposed to on a daily basis at public school). The Gideons also provide these New Testaments to the military. Many thrift stores give Bibles away that they receive as donations--they will not sell them. I have never seen the Catholic Church offer free Bibles, not on the scale of the above organizations I mentioned. I always thought one of the missions of the Church was to spread the Word, and it is easier to spread the Word when it is free.

I point this out because the Catholic Church (along with others) is very top heavy with admin types, both lay people and religious, who draw salaries. Certainly someone at that level should be in charge of drawing up some sort of universal curriculum which is covered under the "work for hire" (you do this on work time therefore the copyright belongs to the organization) laws. If that were the case, then everyone would also be teaching more or less from the same page, instead of using outside materials.

Just a thought.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 22, 2003.