Any good "preparing for Mass" videos?

[DisorientingSneeze]

I’ve lost count of how many Sunday’s we’ve been home for Mass. The momentum of Lent and the Joy of Easter seemed to carry us a ways but this Sunday was really hard. We aren’t tidying up the livingroom (our church) as much. It’s harder to make ourselves dress up for it, etc. The kids’ behavior is devolving to where I just…cry.

I’m thinking maybe watching some type of video about preparing our hearts for mass might help. Can you suggest any you like either for individuals or for families?

 

[Joe_5859]

I can’t think of anything specifically made for that purpose, but maybe precede Mass with a video of praying the rosary if you think that might help bring the focus to spiritual things prior to Mass.

It’s a challenge to be sure! The main thing motivating me to dress up for our live-stream Mass is the thought that my daughter is going to remember this time of isolation for the rest of her life. And I want her to remember that her father took it seriously enough to dress up. Otherwise, I’d rather stay in my pajamas.

 

[tommy37]

I can’t think of a video on that topic specifically. As far as preparing your hearts for Mass, I would just try to say a prayer or a few prayers together as a family. You could find one that you like or you could just pray with the kids: “Lord Jesus, prepare our hearts to receive you spiritually in this online Mass…etc…” Then say an Act of Contrition and a Hail Mary and then watch the Mass.

Another thing you could do: I don’t know how many kids you have but you could find a short prayer or write a few yourself and have each child say one themselves, if they are old enough, of course, to do that. That might help them feel that they are playing an active part in it themselves.

Personally, I wouldn’t bother trying to dress the kids up for it. I think, at this point, it’s all we can do just to gather the kids up and get them to focus for a few minutes on the Mass. We can get back to dressing up once the Masses start up again. God understands our difficulties.

Also, I don’t know which online Mass you watch but some are longer than others, maybe you could find a shorter one because let’s face it, it’s harder for the kids to focus when they’re at home and there’s a lot of distractions. One Mass that our family watches often is the one from the Archdiocese of Toronto on YouTube. It’s only about 28 minutes; it has short homilies and the cantors are usually very inspiring in their singing. We don’t bother trying to watch it live or anything; we just watch it when we are able to get everyone ready and focused. Then we offer it in union with all the Masses going on throughout the world at that moment.

Another thing you could do is maybe at breakfast on Sunday mornings before Mass, you could read the Gospel reading and briefly discuss it, again, depending on the age of your kids and their ability to understand stuff. I’ve been watching Bishop Barron’s Sunday homilies and then sharing a few interesting insights with the family on Sundays, sometimes even after we watch our regular Mass. We also say a few prayers each night of the week together. Often, we each state something that we are grateful for. I think that is an important thing for kids to practice doing at a young age.

So just do what you can do and it will be a good thing, a good witness for them.
God Bless, I hope this helps!

 

[Online_Knight]

YouTube - The Veil Removed
After my kids watched, we talked a lot about it. At every mass since, I quietly whisper to them, “how many angels do you think are here with us right now?”
LOVE THIS VIDEO!