Children's liturgy of the word

  • Thread starter Thread starter angell1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

angell1

Guest
my parish has this and ia often asking for volunteers

a couple questions

a. is it allowed?

b. how should it be properly celebrated?

I know there are many people who are not really fans of it, but since it’s already in existence, should I help out?

and if I do, I guess I would need to attend another mass myself, right? since I would miss a good chunk of it
 
angell1 said:
my parish has this and ia often asking for volunteers

a couple questions

a. is it allowed?

b. how should it be properly celebrated?

I know there are many people who are not really fans of it, but since it’s already in existence, should I help out?

and if I do, I guess I would need to attend another mass myself, right? since I would miss a good chunk of it
Click to expand...
The Bishops of Canada have issued a document on this.
cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/archives/media-releases/2006/2368-celebrating-the-liturgy-of-the-word-with-children

Two main points they bring out:
  1. based on the Vatican document “Directory for Masses with Children” it’s allowed but should be infrequent;
  2. if a pencil is involved in any way you’re doing it wrong.
 
Don’t do it…it will only encourage them to continue it. :confused:
 
angell1 said:
my parish has this and ia often asking for volunteers

a couple questions

a. is it allowed?
Click to expand...
Yes, of course.
b. how should it be properly celebrated?
Click to expand...
There are various resources about it.
I know there are many people who are not really fans of it, but since it’s already in existence, should I help out?
Click to expand...
No, you should not. If you question the legitimacy of an activity, you should not undermine it by participating in something that you do not fully support.
 
Why don’t people like children’s liturgy of the word? We often have it in our parish and I think it is good. You can’t expect adults and small children to be able to understand the readings in the same way.
 
tuffsmurf said:
Why don’t people like children’s liturgy of the word? We often have it in our parish and I think it is good. You can’t expect adults and small children to be able to understand the readings in the same way.
Click to expand...
This isn’t comprehensive, but it’s a start:
  1. It typically involves laypeople proclaiming the Gospel and preaching in the liturgy.
  2. It interrupts the flow of the Mass and, for a moment, makes people (namely the kids and the adults who shepherd them out of the Church) the focus instead of focusing in God’s word.
  3. There’s usually some kind of dreadful “traveling music” to accompany them out of the Church.
  4. It gives parents another excuse to just leave all religious education to the Church. Parents should sit down and go over the readings beforehand with their kids so they know what is going on, and engage them in a discussion of the homily afterward. Instead, they trust mostly untrained laypeople to do the work for them.
  5. It tends to devolve into silly arts and crafts.
  6. Did I mention laypeople preaching during the liturgy?
  7. It separates families families during the most important part of the week.
  8. Protestantization - the whole Sunday School/Children’s Church thing. Families should attend Mass together.
 
When I was a kid, many moons ago (I’m 60), school children were sent to a basement chapel to hear mass on Sunday morning while the adults were in the main church.

I think interrupting mass to usher the children in and out is disruptive, but a separate mass altogether for the juveniles would seem to have some merit and be somewhat traditional.
 
tuffsmurf said:
Why don’t people like children’s liturgy of the word? We often have it in our parish and I think it is good. You can’t expect adults and small children to be able to understand the readings in the same way.
Click to expand...
That’s what Sunday School and Children’s Faith formation is for.
But the biggest reason against it, is that it tends to devolve into coloring sheets and kiddie song.
Blech.
No real learning taking place.
People are gong to chime in and say “Oh but it’s wonderful at my parish”.
That’s never been my experience.
Thankfully, our Archbishop discourages it.
We allow children the age of 7 and above to receive Eucharist, but we think they’re too y young to understand the readings? Come on. :rolleyes:

There’s been many many threads on this.
It always ends the same. I’m out.

But as a DRE, I do not encourage this, and neither do the priests in our area.
 
pianistclare said:
That’s what Sunday School and Children’s Faith formation is for.
But the biggest reason against it, is that it tends to devolve into coloring sheets and kiddie song.
Blech.
No real learning taking place.
People are gong to chime in and say “Oh but it’s wonderful at my parish”.
That’s never been my experience.
Thankfully, our Archbishop discourages it.
We allow children the age of 7 and above to receive Eucharist, but we think they’re too y young to understand the readings? Come on. :rolleyes:

There’s been many many threads on this.
It always ends the same. I’m out.

But as a DRE, I do not encourage this, and neither do the priests in our area.
Click to expand...
I don’t know how it is in other parishes/dioceses, but here children’s liturgy of the word are for children under the age of 7. School-aged children stay in the church during the entire mass. I agree that children who are old enough to recieve communion are old enough to understand the readings.
 
I’m torn on the issue.

Here’s my take…Children may not understand scripture, so they need it to be presented. The best place for them to learn about it is in the home.

Unfortunately, too many (thankfully, not all) families go through the motions of exercising the faith, but that faith is explored only at Church…no discussion of scripture at home, and in many cases the only mention even vaguely related to the faith in the home is hurrying them to get ready to get out the door on Sunday morning…meeting “obligation” but, without reverence or meaning.

So, exposure, discussion, and education on the Word is a good thing.

However, as pointed out, care must be taken that it doesn’t swing in the other direction and becomes a summer camp, arts and crafts, experience with a vague biblical theme.
 
We have Children’s liturgy for those who have not yet received First Holy Communion. The mass is not delayed or disrupted and the children understand that they leave and enter silently.

During children’s Liturgy, the children (and accompanying parents) are there to hear the Word of God and learn (in accordance with the Church’s Teachings). They may get 5 minutes of crafts at the most, but only to reinforce the Gospel.

When there is no Children’s Liturgy, the numbers of children and adults attending mass regularly drop significantly. It would be nice to think that children were learning the faith at home, but sadly most do not and the Children’s catechist is the only adult they hear and see talking about the faith.

I wish that there was the same care for the Holy Communion Preparation classes, but they are so desperate for catechists. Unlike Children’s Liturgy the Youth Worker doesn’t pop in. there are no parents present and the catechists are mainly elderly.
 
Neofight said:
I’m torn on the issue.

Here’s my take…Children may not understand scripture, so they need it to be presented. The best place for them to learn about it is in the home.
Click to expand...
🙂

I remember asking my dad whether Adam and Eve was a true story. I think he answered back “Ah translations” or something to that effect. So as it’s the very first thing written in the Bible, I grew up with that mindset.

I certainly hope the children get more of scripture than I did, though I tend to think the way it’s presented overall is in a most disorganized fashion.
 
I used to do it about 10 - 15 years ago, but I would not do it again.
  • It does involve laypeople reading the gospel, and preaching; we even had the children stand during the “Gospel”. It blurs the difference between clergy and laity.
  • In my parish we even had candles and an altarish table set up; :confused:
  • We used a “Childrens Lectionary” and an accompanying Leader’s Guide, published by Treehaus. The Leader’s Guide gave alternative readings, heavily politically correct slant, as well as heavily horizontal suggested “sermons” and prayers. For instance, they would go through hoops to avoid any hint of “God the Father” or “God the Son”, and avoid any male pronouns. 😦
  • In our parish, we began with younger children, but when it started to dwindle, they announced it for all elementary school aged children, so they could keep it going.
The Mass is so important, there should be a clear distinction between “Mass” and something else.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
Yes, of course.

There are various resources about it.

No, you should not. If you question the legitimacy of an activity, you should not undermine it by participating in something that you do not fully support.
Click to expand...
where should I look for resources?

I never said I didn’t support it, I hardly know anything about it, just that it’s done

and, well, I question everything, so it’s not just this
 
angell1 said:
where should I look for resources?

I never said I didn’t support it, I hardly know anything about it, just that it’s done

and, well, I question everything, so it’s not just this
Click to expand...
Really, get the document from the CCCB. It will help you determine what else you need. If they’re already doing it, they are likely using the 3 volume Children’s Lectionary from Treehaus – AFAIK, it’s the only one.
 
angell1 said:
where should I look for resources?

I never said I didn’t support it, I hardly know anything about it, just that it’s done

and, well, I question everything, so it’s not just this
Click to expand...
There are a variety of resources around. I tend to use the Diocese of Westminster’s online resources (but I am in the UK). I googled Catholic Children’s liturgy and it quickly became my preferred resource (I don’t bother with the books we have as they are dated and spend too much time on crafts). I also purchased a couple of books about being a Catechist - one was called the Reluctant Catechist, which contained practical advice (including the need to pray). I was also given the opportunity to observe a session and the main Catechist ran through things with me. In the UK, all volunteers who interact with children and vulnerable adults, must have a criminal background check first (and be approved by the Priest) and also attend a special safeguarding course (just a couple of hours) every couple of years.

Our Children’s Liturgy is in the Hall, so the first step is to light the candle because Jesus is the light of the world, then a reminder that we are in mass. We then pray a sorry prayer. I will then link the other readings to the Gospel reading before reading the Gospel. The children are asked about the reading and we talk about the context (history etc) and then we either spend 5 minutes acting the story or doing a small bit of crafts. My fellow catechists follow a similar program except for the context and linking the readings (I am the nerd) but they bring other gifts to the Liturgy to keep it informative and focused on the Gospel. If the children are boisterous, then I will march them round singing Hallelujah at the beginning and calling for loud sung Amen’s because they need to be settled and listening to the Word of God. One time I had a group that seemed to sleep through the whole liturgy and thought I had failed until one parent told me how their child had talked almost non-stop about what we had covered. Sigh, I miss two of them - they are in the Holy Communion Preparation Class (okay I help there as well but there are 40 children), so they now stay in mass.

And no, you should not need to attend another mass because you are not missing a significant amount, especially if you read all of the mass readings beforehand. If your children are old enough the Creed and Gloria can be incorporated. Sometimes I am EMHC and Children’s catechist at the same mass (small parish and shortage of volunteers for any ministry). If in doubt, check with your priest. And if you already have Children’s Liturgy, ask if you could observe and talk to the catechists as part of your discenment.
 
We do it in our parish, we love it, the kids love it, they are not disruptive, are back in time for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, We have been doing it for years for grades K-2, and will continue to do it as long as the Pastor wants. So I guess I am a lone voice on CAF, but in real life most people probably like it or don’t care if it’s done or not. I have never heard an objection to it except for CAF.

I suggest that if you really want to know, go to one. And no, one does not need to attend another Mass if they volunteer. The only thing missed is the priest’s homily.
 
angell1 said:
where should I look for resources?

I never said I didn’t support it, I hardly know anything about it, just that it’s done

and, well, I question everything, so it’s not just this
Click to expand...
That’s good - keep questioning.
Unfortunately, on this particular topic, there are no published answers. What I mean is, I’ve been asking for the last 8 years about the efficacy of the program across the country. I want to see if there is a correlation between children who attended CLW, then their participation in Mass as teenagers and then as adults. It would seem no one’s really looked at this. What we have is anecdotal information - many, many kids who did CLW as kids in the 90’s and 2000’s no longer go to Mass – but we certainly cannot say CLW is the cause of their lack of participation.

What we do know is those of us who were kids in the 70’s and 80’s who stayed in Mass heard and remember the readings and the language used. We heard things like “transubstatiation” - but that’s a word that’s been removed from the language used to teach children in CLW, and, we heading the readings often enough that we can recall the language now decades later – because it was not dumbed down for us.

While I have zero supporting data at this point, I think CLW dumbs down the message too much so we’re not giving kids credit for knowing much (and many are way smarter at age 6 than we were!). It makes Mass about “entertainment” and does nothing to teach kids how to behave in Mass since they are removed. It also stresses the humanistic - like how Jesus is our brother - but removes the transcendent. Those aspects should be balanced IMHO. In other research I have seen, this lack of the transcendent is often cited by adults in their 30-50’s for why they no longer attend Mass - they no longer see it as something special or unique. One lady said, “I can no longer find the holy . . .” So, if CLW is taking away the holy for our little kids, I’d think it would be a very bad idea. There is no reason why even very young children cannot come to Mass.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top