Liturgy of the Word with Children

Little angels? In your dreams!

The Liturgy of the Word, particularly at Sunday Mass is often a challenging thing for us all to pray and draw nourishment from. It is too easy to find the word of God indigestible rather than a guide and aid to authentic life.

To assist children participate in the encounter with Jesus, really present in the word, a simplified liturgical form may be used, for children before they have made their first Holy Communion, and once they are of an age to participate in it.

The liturgical form makes use of the same elements

Standing to greet the Gospel

Singing the Gospel Acclamation

Listening to the Gospel proclaimed (in the same translation, the Jerusalem Bible, used in Mass.)

Reflecting on it and making a response in prayer

However the homily is more interactive than is usual at Mass. It is also often best that there are two proclamations of the Gospel, the first followed by a 'de-bugging' of the text (for understanding of the factual elements in the reading - for example in the parable of the Good Samaritan: what is a scribe; what a Temple priest?, what a Samaritan) and then a second reading which allows the children to better able for the deeper spiritual understanding and response that is their right and responsibility.