The little man walking to every empty pew available
Parents of little ones, especially the active kids, can definitely relate to our Sunday routine. As Catholics, Sunday is a holy day of obligation. This is the day we go to Church to celebrate the Mass and spend an hour to listen to the readings, participate in joint prayer, and basically, have a spiritual encounter. I can’t say that I am overly religious but I try to be able to do something as “basic” as going to Mass every Sunday.
Since having my son, it’s never been easy to go to Mass as before. I soon realized that it is difficult to even concentrate to hear what the priest is saying or trying to ignore “glances and looks” from nearby pews as soon as my son starts to make a fuss while in the middle of it. When he was a baby, we have experienced countless of times having to leave even before the Mass ended if we can’t stop him from crying or if he made a dirty nappy. So I can say that since he was born, it’s been seldom for me to even concentrate or finish the Mass!
Last Sunday was no exception. Since my son realized he can walk and run, it became a lot more challenging to stop him from doing that. Especially inside the Church, he likes hearing his footsteps echo through the entire building as he stomps his feet. Worse, he might even sing the ABCs or count as loud as he could!
Unlike the Churches in Manila where some have a bit of covered space outside where parents can stay and still participate in Mass, the Churches here don’t. The only way is for one parent to stay outside or go elsewhere with the child and let one continue with the Mass. For the past weeks, my husband has been doing that and letting me continue with the Mass. But now, we are starting to try to let our son stay inside the Church a bit. I don’t want him to grow up thinking that Sunday is a time to go to the Disney store or that the Mass is outside. So far, my husband is able to stay at least until all the readings are finished until my son starts to get bored and asks to go out.
There was a time my son’s voice and stomping got too loud, my husband took him outside and spent the rest of the time there while waiting for me! Luckily, the priest at the time was kind. After the Mass, he went out of his way to approach us and let us know that we don’t have to go outside as children are expected to make noise during the Mass anyway. It could be because of Pope Francis’ statement about small children attending Mass encouraging everybody to be more lenient to parents and their children so not to discourage them from participating in the Sacrament whilst raising their kids.
The reason I wrote about this is to let the parents of little ones not to feel put off going to the Church with your babies. Sure, some people may not like it but you owe it to your spirituality to get the blessing you can only receive from the Sacrament.
What is the Main Cause of a Heart Attack? What is its Solution? A heart attack is the blockage of… Read More
In the vast economic arena, one term that often takes center stage, inciting extensive debates and discussions, is the "debt… Read More
De-Dollarization: The Changing Face of Global Finance The financial landscape is in a state of flux, with an intriguing economic… Read More
The curtains closed on a dramatic Bundesliga season with Bayern Munich standing tall once again, clinching their 11th straight title.… Read More
The Unfolding Story of Celine Dion's Health In recent news that has left fans across the globe stunned, iconic singer… Read More
As the echoes of the recent NBA season start to fade, the attention of enthusiasts is firmly glued to one… Read More
View Comments
when my little ones were young it was difficult to get them to sit down for 5 minutes, they wandered off pretty quickly that I couldn't sit down to listen what the priest had been preaching
I don't know what I'll do if I have more than one child like this, to be honest, LOL! I can understand the frustration of some Church-goers when kids start to make noise but what can we do? It's not as if we're not trying but kids don't really appreciate the Mass at that age. I seldom bring my son to Church because if the weather is bad, he has nowhere to go so more often, he stays at home (or inside the shopping centers) with his Dad while I go to Church. But while it is summer, I try to let him stay around for a few moments because I don't want him to grow up thinking that Sunday is a day to go to the Disney store!
I guess toddlers cannot be controlled in times like this. Since it is their nature to be playful. When I was at the same age, my parents claimed that I am laughing inside the church. The weird thing is I am laughing with someone that they can't see. An innocent child can see things that adults cannot explain.
I was also told the same thing that babies can see things we don't see. Well, they are still so pure and innocent so I wouldn't be surprised if their angels are keeping them company! By any chance, do you still have these "encounters" until now?
In my church it's a completely different setting. Am a protestant and I am religious as well, I always try to make time for church whenever I can.
In our church we have sections where everyone is attended to. First and foremost we have two services where th3 first one is for early riders like me, we start at 8.30am and the second service starts at 11.30am that's the main services that run in the main sanctuary then there is a side for the youth church and the Sunday school church for the young kids between the ages of 3years and so on. In th3 main sanctuary there is a room for mother's who have toddlers it's well equipped with a toilet a sink and even a Macintosh where they can change the babies nappy when they are soiled. The Windows and walls are thick enough to hold in the babies cries. Nowadays chirches have overhead screens that televise the whole service so even if you are in that room you don't miss anything you are part of the service by all means. So everyone is literally taken care off in our church. You will not hear kids running up and down the aisle causing a disturbance, the other kids are having their own classes in Sunday school, so Sunday services are nice and quiet during sermons. I just thank God that our pastor together with his pastoral team were able to come up with such a brilliant idea. Not so many churches have this kind of setting in their churches but it's a no or idea that most churches should take up and keep the nursing mother's in church on Sunday.
babes are innocent and the friends of angels and closet to God due to innocent until they commit crimes and do their souls black. Most of the kid go into the church with parents some remain quiet and some make a noise because they cannot control their emotions looking at some awkward thing in men and women in church praying men and women.
I think that the church has a big aspect of nurturing development of children. It is important that children grow up with values and the church is very strategically positioned to do that. Today we are reminding the church of its divine role especially now when there are many conflicting aspects affecting children.
So far, the programme boosts of children spiritual nurture in a number of churches across the country, trained church leaders to respond to a number of community issues including peace building, restoring hope to the hopeless through the channels of hope programmes as well as equipping children with life skills to enable them overcome life challenges like early marriages, drug abuse among others.