C
Cat
Guest
I’m just curious. 
I play for the Family Mass at our parish, which is almost all families with young children. So when I went to Mass on Sunday morning, I knew that it would be hard. My children are grown up, but all weekend long, just seeing little ones would make me feel very emotional because I kept remembering the 20 children who were murdered in Newtown. In fact, I went to a McD’s on Sat morning for a quick breakfast, and saw a mom with two little girls, and I just about lost it.
It seemed like all weekend long, everywhere I went, there was more tolerance of children–less scolding, less angry looks, and more hugs.
Anyway, at the Family Mass, when it came time for the homily, Father sent the little ones out of the room with the lady who is in charge of family Mass (she is a hired staff member of the parish, not just a volunteer), and told them that they would hear a special Bible story just for them.
This never happens at our parish. There is no “Children’s Homily” in any of our Masses. The whole point of the Family Mass to give parents the opportunity to train their children and prepare them for the regular Masses, and so the homilies are always geared towards the children (they come up to the front and sit on a rug).
So I knew that Father was going to talk about the tragedy. And he did. He gave a wonderful homily that lasted almost a half hour, talking about some of the hard issues like “How could God let this happen?” and “What is the Christian response to tragedies like this?”
For the most part, there wasn’t a sound in the room. At least three hundred adults were in attendance. A few of them kept their children with them. Father didn’t say anything graphic or frightening. It was mainly a theology lesson from Thomas Aquinas and from the Bible, and it was very reassuring and comforting.
There were also prayers for the children during the “Prayers of the Faithful,” but nothing prolonged or graphic.
Father did not specifically mention gun control (our parish tends to be extremely conservative politically, although there are liberal factions), but he did admonish us to contact our representatives and senators and let them know that something must be done to keep children safe.
So did your parish do anything special during the Mass or otherwise?
I play for the Family Mass at our parish, which is almost all families with young children. So when I went to Mass on Sunday morning, I knew that it would be hard. My children are grown up, but all weekend long, just seeing little ones would make me feel very emotional because I kept remembering the 20 children who were murdered in Newtown. In fact, I went to a McD’s on Sat morning for a quick breakfast, and saw a mom with two little girls, and I just about lost it.
It seemed like all weekend long, everywhere I went, there was more tolerance of children–less scolding, less angry looks, and more hugs.
Anyway, at the Family Mass, when it came time for the homily, Father sent the little ones out of the room with the lady who is in charge of family Mass (she is a hired staff member of the parish, not just a volunteer), and told them that they would hear a special Bible story just for them.
This never happens at our parish. There is no “Children’s Homily” in any of our Masses. The whole point of the Family Mass to give parents the opportunity to train their children and prepare them for the regular Masses, and so the homilies are always geared towards the children (they come up to the front and sit on a rug).
So I knew that Father was going to talk about the tragedy. And he did. He gave a wonderful homily that lasted almost a half hour, talking about some of the hard issues like “How could God let this happen?” and “What is the Christian response to tragedies like this?”
For the most part, there wasn’t a sound in the room. At least three hundred adults were in attendance. A few of them kept their children with them. Father didn’t say anything graphic or frightening. It was mainly a theology lesson from Thomas Aquinas and from the Bible, and it was very reassuring and comforting.
There were also prayers for the children during the “Prayers of the Faithful,” but nothing prolonged or graphic.
Father did not specifically mention gun control (our parish tends to be extremely conservative politically, although there are liberal factions), but he did admonish us to contact our representatives and senators and let them know that something must be done to keep children safe.
So did your parish do anything special during the Mass or otherwise?
