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Embracing Children at Church: A Personal Story

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G. Michaelson

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Personal story: Sunday mass

When my wife and I first started going to church regularly, we would usually leave our daughter with her grandma. That continued until a priest once advised us to try involve our daughter as well. We accepted the challenge, even though our daughter is quite energetic child.

Most Sundays it was quite hard keeping her calm and being focused on the mass at the same time. I started to question the point of taking a small child to mass. It seemed to only have caused the lack of focus for both of us and people around us.

Then something beautiful happened a few weeks ago. During the priest’s homily1 my daughter (and some other kids further away) were constantly making some noise. It was not catastrophic, the priest could still be heard easily, but it was enough to make you feel embarrassed. I also felt like I am being rude for not listening to what the priest was saying. Then, just as I was feeling guilty for not being focused on what the priest was saying, he said something I will never forget. He was talking about children in his homily and then concluded:

“…and as I am talking,every Sunday, I constantly hear cries and laughter of children within the church.”, as he gestures with his hand in my general direction, “But I don’t mind, praise the Lord that that’s the case, for the Church in which you cannot hear baby’s cry is a dead Church.”

Him saying that made me cry of joy. Honestly I was also a little stunned as to how haven’t I realized that sooner. As he was saying that the bright sunbeam through the blue tinted church window put my face into spotlight. He continued:

“…and those parents here with kids probably didn’t hear most of the things that were said here today, but it doesn’t matter. You are doing a far greater thing by being focused on your kids then being focused on me. I like that more.”

After he said that I was really freaked out for a second. That random beam of sunlight focused in my face’s direction and the priest seemingly reading my mind really felt unreal. Tears were running down my blue tinted face and it felt like I was being hugged.

Conclusion

You could call it a mere coincidence, but I won’t. That moment proved to me that God is around me and in me. It proved to me that he is listening and understanding. He is always ready to hold me up when I am about to fall.

  1. A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, homilía) is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture,[1] giving the “public explanation of a sacred doctrine” or text. ↩︎

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One response to “Embracing Children at Church: A Personal Story”

  1. Lucija Jukić Avatar
    Lucija Jukić

    Verses Luke 18:15-17 come to my mind when reading this post. For two reasons;

    1) Jesus quite literally said: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God”. He wants children next to Him. He wants them in church (and in Church). Why would He mind having His child in His home? He can’t wait for little children to come to Him, He loves them with all His Might.

    Also, one quote from Don Bosco comes to my mind; “My children, jump, run and play and make all the noise you want but avoid sin like the plague and you will surely gain heaven.”

    2) He is telling us to be like children. Why? Because a little child cannot live on its own. It cannot survive on its own. It needs its parents to stay alive – to feed it, to raise it, to shelter it. And the same thing is with us! We cannot survive on our own, we need our Father (and our blessed Mother) to stay alive; whether we need His Divine Providence to quite literally stay alive on this Earth when times get rough or for something more important – so that sin doesn’t kill us. Sin will kill us from the inside in this life – you know that yourself, your conscience won’t leave you alone when you are in a state of sin. But more importantly, sin will separate you from living an eternal life accompanying the Lord. Sin kills and Lord saves.

    He knows that life is hard and that you cannot do it on your own. That is why He is telling us to be like a children and to rely on Him completely. Just like your daughter can rely on you.

    Let us be like little children – not afraid of big and scary things because we know that we have a Father that loves unconditionally and that He will protect us in times in need.

    Proverbs 3:5-6; Trust in the Lord with all your heart
        and lean not on your own understanding;
    6 in all your ways submit to him,
        and he will make your paths straight

    May God bless you and your family and may angels watch over you!

    Pax et bonum!

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