Children's Liturgy

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AServantofGod

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Our church offers a children’s liturgy 1-2 times per month. The children leave during the readings & homily for their own instruction on the Gospel reading. The children love it, & attendance continues to increase. I have some very orthodox friends (wonderful family w/ 10 VERY well behaved & VERY Catholic children) who would criticize what they called, “the mass exodus of children”.

Does your church offer such a liturgy? What is your opinion on a Children’s Liturgy?
 
it is properly called the children’s liturgy of the Word, they leave to have the gospel proclaimed to them from the Children’s lectionary and have a preaching or lesson aimed at their level. We do it, it was already in place when I came here. I would never institute it because I believe children belong in the assembly from infancy onward. I tolerate it and even encourage it for children preparing for first communion as an analogy to breaking open the Word for their age group, but strongly urge those who have made first communion to remain with their families for the entire Mass. What I did do was ask the volunteer parents moderating this to come to training with the other catechists and we replaced some questionable materials they were using with more reliable resources.

A true children’s liturgy is a Mass celebrated for an assembly made up primarily of younger children, where the Children’s Lectionary may be used, Apostle’s Creed and some other minor changes, music etc., also children may be lectors, bring up gifts etc. We have a weekly Mass for the school using these norms.
 
I do not like the idea. I think that the children should stay at mass till the end. The mass was the way that people learned about the faith for the first 1900 years of the churches history. The whole mass is biblical not just the readings. If you attend mass and pay attention through the whole mass it is a good way to learn what the bible says.
 
CLOW is greatly abused here. In the parishes that have it in this Archdiocese, children (?) ages 6 - 13 are removed from the Mass at the Gospel and returned after the homily. They get their Gospel and a “homily” from one of the lay teachers. The older kids do it “to get out of Mass.”

My friend was so fervent in keeping kids who had made their First Holy Communion in the Church for the entire Mass, it led to his removal from the parish. Maybe if he were more like Gumbleton…:rolleyes:
 
REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM

60.] In the celebration of Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are intimately connected to one another, and form one single act of worship. For this reason it is not licit to separate one of these parts from the other and celebrate them at different times or places.

63.] “Within the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, the reading of the Gospel, which is “the high point of the Liturgy of the Word”,[139]* is reserved by the Church’s tradition to an ordained minister.[140] Thus it is not permitted for a layperson, even a religious, to proclaim the Gospel reading in the celebration of Holy Mass, nor in other cases in which the norms do not explicitly permit it.*[141]](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...emptionis-sacramentum_en.html#_ftn141#_ftn141)

It would seem the children cannot leave the church and a Lay person cannot read the Gospel.
 
REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM
[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself,[142]* “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson.[143] In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.[144][65.] It should be borne in mind that any previous norm that may have admitted non-ordained faithful to give the homily during the eucharistic celebration is to be considered abrogated by the norm of canon 767 §1.[145] This practice is reprobated, so that it cannot be permitted to attain the force of custom.[66.] The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as “pastoral assistants”; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.*[146]

Also the lay person cannot give the Homily. They need to have a Sunday School…this would not be breaking up the Holy Mass and they would still learn about their Catholic Faith.
 
amalatt said:
REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM
[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself,[142]* “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson.[143] In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.[144][65.] It should be borne in mind that any previous norm that may have admitted non-ordained faithful to give the homily during the eucharistic celebration is to be considered abrogated by the norm of canon 767 §1.[145] This practice is reprobated, so that it cannot be permitted to attain the force of custom.*[66.] The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as “pastoral assistants”; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.[146]

Also the lay person cannot give the Homily. They need to have a Sunday School…this would not be breaking up the Holy Mass and they would still learn about their Catholic Faith.
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  1. You quoted Redemptionis Sacramentum. But as footnote 135 refers to the old liturgical text (1970), one may assume that the Directory on Children’s Masses (1973) is still valid and not overridden by the above texts.
  2. In view of this, the children’s liturgy may still be conducted separately from the mass. After that, the children could then attend mass with the adults.
a. Directory on Children’s Masses (1973) states,

i) “…it will be appropriate to have a special liturgy of the word and homily for the children in a separate place not too far distant from the main church.” [17]

ii) “There is no reason why one of the adults should not reach a homily to the children after the gospel, especially if the priest has difficulty in adapting himself to the mentality of the children.”[24]

As for the Gospel reading during the Children’s Liturgy, there is no documents disallowing it. Redemptionis Sacramentum disallows the reading of the Gospel by persons other than the “ordained minister” but this may not be for the Children’s Liturgy.
 
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AServantofGod:
Our church offers a children’s liturgy 1-2 times per month. The children leave during the readings & homily for their own instruction on the Gospel reading. The children love it, & attendance continues to increase. I have some very orthodox friends (wonderful family w/ 10 VERY well behaved & VERY Catholic children) who would criticize what they called, “the mass exodus of children”.

Does your church offer such a liturgy? What is your opinion on a Children’s Liturgy?
Click to expand...
We have children’s liturgy as well. I don’t like to let the kids go because I feel we should all partake of the celebration of the mass.

ybiC,
Trevor
 
In our parish, it is pretty much reserved for young children who have not yet received First Communion. There’s no hard and fast rule, but that’s the general practice. Sometimes a couple of older girls help out. Father encourages those who receive FHC to become altar servers, and that usually gets them more attuned to the regular Mass.
I think parents are glad for the opportunity to actually hear the Word of God without the distraction of restless kids, and the kids are more receptive to the Gospel and its explanation directed to them. (Mind you, some of us wouldn’t mind an excuse to go for a little walk during the homily!) Seriously, I’m one who had my doubts, but I have seen a huge increase in the number of young families attending Mass regularly, and that’s in large part because it’s much more do-able with the Children’s Liturgy of the Word.
I would like to see a second group of older elementary students, because it has worked very well with the younger ones.
This is not a novelty, BTW. During the 40’s and 50’s, children’s Masses were often the norm, and all the schoolchildren would be at a particular Sunday Mass, where Sister would take attendance. Woe to any child who wasn’t there!
This not only allows for the children to receive preaching at their level, but also allows for the priest to speak more plainly to the adults. Sometimes, the children’s Mass would be held in the hall, and the parents would be up in the church at the same time. I think it’s much better to attend as a family… but it’s important to reach people at their own level.
 
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AServantofGod:
Our church offers a children’s liturgy 1-2 times per month. The children leave during the readings & homily for their own instruction on the Gospel reading. The children love it, & attendance continues to increase. I have some very orthodox friends (wonderful family w/ 10 VERY well behaved & VERY Catholic children) who would criticize what they called, “the mass exodus of children”.

Does your church offer such a liturgy? What is your opinion on a Children’s Liturgy?
Click to expand...
Yes, our parish offers the Children’s liturgy of the Word. But parents do not have to let their childen participate if they don’t want them too.

I think it’s a great idea because young children do not have the attention span of adults nor the thinking and reasoning abilities to understand the Word as it is presented to adults. I would rather it be explained to them in a way in which they can internalize it. Also, I think it’s better to let the children go to this than for the parents to try and entertain them ( usually with color books and crayons) or make them be quiet during the homily.

In Christ,
Scarlet
 
Our parish has Liturgy for kids aged 3 to 6. They leave before readings and return before offertory.

DS has been going for the last 2 years and loves it. ( At 3 he was hesitant to be left without us - guess he thought it would be like being left at daycare/school)
 
We have a K-8 school by the Church. We have available several rooms where small children can be left. But we do not have “Children’s Liturgy” or “Children’s Mass”. By the time a kid is 6 years old they stay with the family.

Truthfully I had not heard of such a thing as removing kids from Mass so the Lady down the street could preach a homily to them. I don’t approve of that. As my own kids grew and attended Mass with me, there were sometimes I explained what the Priest had said. But to turn them over to a stranger - NO- I resist that.

Trust the Holy Spirit to teach the kids what they need.
 
Our church has it, but what I’ve found is that some of the poeple who lead this in our parish shouldn’t be. One woman had our children praying for the ‘souls in heaven’. I politely told her afterwards that the children should pray for the souls in purgatory.
 
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AServantofGod:
Our church offers a children’s liturgy 1-2 times per month. The children leave during the readings & homily for their own instruction on the Gospel reading. The children love it, & attendance continues to increase. I have some very orthodox friends (wonderful family w/ 10 VERY well behaved & VERY Catholic children) who would criticize what they called, “the mass exodus of children”.

Does your church offer such a liturgy? What is your opinion on a Children’s Liturgy?
Click to expand...
I believe that a childrens liturgy is just fine as long as it is just that a SPECIAL childrens liturgy. Set at a special time and just for children (with the parents that bring them). It should not be at a regular parish Mass time and should not be part regular liturgy and part childrens liturgy. In my opinion.
 
Yes, my church has it.
No, my children will never go to it. We don’t do CCD either, it’s a waste of time and in some cases it’s flat out wrong teachings.
Yes, sadly enough, my children are almost the only children who attend Mass.
 
I love catholic answers and I love these forums, but sometimes times I feel these forums are so negative! Yes, we have Children’s Liturgy of the Word in our parish but,
  1. materials used are approved by the pastor, the bishop, and the Church.
  2. I have voluntered to teach so that I am in on planning and I know that the materials are being followed and no one is over stepping or adding inapproiate materials.
  3. It is only for children 3 until they make 1st Holy Communion
  4. the children are brought into the chapel off the side entrance of the church, we leave before the first reading and return after the Homily.
It is our job when we see abuses not just to complain but to do something about them. I think it was St. Francis who said pray as though everyhting depends on god and work as though every thing depends on you!
 
It’s great that your parish is so organized with this and you play such a key part! Unfortunately, with 7 Masses each weekend our CLOW teachers /assistants are numerous and they rotate weekends, so it’s hard to ensure everyone is doing the ‘right thing’, even by being one of the volunteers. The priest has very little to do with the materials selected or the approval of who teaches or even knowing what they teach. He leaves it up to a lay person on his staff who probably isn’t as involved as she should be and unfortunately is not open to letting others help her with her workload. Do you have any suggestions, based on your experience, how to ensure teachers are ‘qualified’? I’d love to try and help improve the CLOW at our church. Thanks!
 
amalatt said:
REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM

60.] In the celebration of Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are intimately connected to one another, and form one single act of worship. For this reason it is not licit to separate one of these parts from the other and celebrate them at different times or places.

63.] “Within the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, the reading of the Gospel, which is “the high point of the Liturgy of the Word”,[139]* is reserved by the Church’s tradition to an ordained minister.[140] Thus it is not permitted for a layperson, even a religious, to proclaim the Gospel reading in the celebration of Holy Mass, nor in other cases in which the norms do not explicitly permit it.*[141]](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...emptionis-sacramentum_en.html#_ftn141#_ftn141)

It would seem the children cannot leave the church and a Lay person cannot read the Gospel.
Click to expand...

quite right, if the children are old enough to incur the Sunday Mass obligation which includes assisting at the entire Mass including liturgy of the Word with gospel and homily by priest or deacon. If the children have not yet reached age for first communion, they do not have that obligation yet, so may attend a children’s liturgy of the word, and the gospel may be read by a lay person (since it is not in church in the context of Mass) and may give a teaching aimed at their age level, again because it is a catechetical session, not Mass. Once they have received first communion, or reached the age of reason, the children must assist at the full regular Sunday Mass.

a liturgy of the Word may also be done at any time children or youth of any age are gathered, such as CCD, and led by a lay person, with a brief teaching on the readings, which is by definition NOT a homily since it is not given by an ordained man. In fact, it is highly advisable that the readings for the coming or past Sunday be proclaimed during catechetical sessions, for breaking open the Word, especially for RCIA and other sacramental preparation classes.
 
As for suggestions, I would suggest that the number of children’s liturgies be kept to only one per week end, perhaps at the Mass with the most children. This way you can rotate a few teachers and they can be counciled by one of the priest or deacons in tha parish. The materials should be reviewd by the pastor. Good Luck and God Bless!
 
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