Our liturgies
here at St. Austin, by and large, I think are pretty good. But the type of
music, the preaching, and the overall atmosphere are consciously directed at
adults. That is good if you are adult, but not so great if you are a child, and
so some interested parents and some members of the pastoral staff have been
discussing the possibility of incorporating a Children’s Liturgy of the Word in
the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass, at least from time to time.
This Liturgy of
the Word (LOTW) is directed to children. I am not a child psychologist nor a
parent, but that does not stop me from having opinions about the religious
abilities of children (in fact it makes it easier!).
Most children
are, I believe, naturally religious and spiritual. I also believe that most
children take quite naturally to ritual and to liturgy. An example of this can
be seen in the tendency of children to watch the same video over and over and
over and over. An adult may complain that the child has seen the same video
dozens of times, knows the dialogue by heart, and certainly knows how it is
going to end. There is zero suspense for the child watching the same video for
the 37th time. But novelty is not what the child is interested in. It
is dependability, familiarity, and structure that the child wants in order to
organize the many disparate experiences in his or her life. The child is not
bored by the repetition, but rather is reassured and comforted. And so they
watch the same video for the 37th time, and enjoy it. Liturgy is a
lot about repetition and consistent form.
This, in a way,
makes children naturally better at liturgy than adults in our hyper-entertained
culture, which is always demanding something novel and odd and different and
new. Liturgy does not do that well, so children are naturally better suited to
liturgy than adults. But I digress.
What exactly is
Children’s LOTW? Well, first a couple of words about what it is NOT. It is NOT
baby-sitting. We have a nursery for that, and the nursery will continue. The
nursery is most appropriate for children who have not yet begun school.
Children’s LOTW
is NOT religious education. We already have that, and it takes place between
the 9 and the 11:30 Masses most Sundays during the school year. Children are
hopefully first and foremost learning their religion in their home, in their
family, and that learning is supplemented by what we do in our parish religious
education program on Sundays or in the parish school.
Children’s LOTW
IS liturgy. It is just as much liturgy as what the older people are doing
simultaneously in the church. Adults who attend the Children’s LOTW are
encouraged to participate just like adults in the church are encouraged to
participate. It is Liturgy and it is Prayer. It is different because it’s
directed at children but not less than the worship in the church. It has
ritual, prayer, music, readings from the Word of God, homily, and profession of
faith. (Unfortunately it does not have a collection, but that may come!)
More concrete
and specific details will be forthcoming in the bulletin. For now I just want
to get you thinking about Children’s Liturgy of the Word.
God
Bless,
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