By Glen Leo Mendonca, 

                                                                    Pastoral Associate

Having seen the parents and children especially in the age group of two to around six,
I felt they could during this Jubilee Year, help themselves with the following suggestion in order to better celebrate the Eucharist.

After entering the church or the hall kneel for a moment, or genuflect at the entrance. Give the child a short prayer to say such as "Hello, God, I am glad to be at your church." This is a good time to explain that this is a special place and we spend time with God here.

The holy water font at the entrance of the church or hall wherein the parent could bless themselves and guide little hands in making the Sign of the cross and stop awhile and look and see what people do with it.

Families of young children should sit right up in front to have a clear view of what is going on. Take a trip around the church before or after Mass to introduce children to the saints whose statues adorn the church, the Stations of the Cross or visit the adoration chapel. Help them light a votive candle, in doing so, they are absorbing a lesson about prayer humble beautiful, always in active movement yet wrapped in silence.

Stained glass windows are a constant source of fascination; they run a close second to Christmas trees in color and brilliance, portraying Bible stories or Christian symbols in a form easily understood.

Use a colorful Mass book or a holy picture scrapbook (available in supermarkets and religious stores) rather than any old storybook, because these will readily give way to use of the missallette further down the road.

When the Mass begins guide the children through the motions of the Signs of the Cross-. Pay attention to the Gospel. The Gospel for Sunday can be the Saturday night’s bedtime story – good mass preparation for both parents and children.

At this small age help them kneel, stand genuflect and so on. Putting the offering the basket, exchanging the sing of peace along with everyone else. If the Lord’s prayer has been prayed at home, they will greet it as an old friend when it appears during the liturgy service. Let them accompany the parents when it is time to receive communion. (It would include them in the central moment of the Mass)

At a young age children begin to pray on their own from time to time. However children are unlikely to know what to do about this desire unless they have seen their parents praying independently. This lets them know it is acceptable to pray on their own.

You can improve your children’s attitude toward religious simply by showing an interest in it yourself. Be enthusiastic, openly excited – but don’t fake it. The children can be exposed to the above patterns, which they can absorb. Patterns of worship sink into their consciousness and give them a sense of their basic nature long before they understand the meaning of them.

God bless and peace be with you all.

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