Abstract
Liturgical celebrations at church, in order to be
meaningful, must be adapted to the participants. One of the
main liturgical celebrations people participate in is the
Eucharistic Liturgy. The need for children’s liturgy is
obvious to those who live and work with children. Children
are not capable of thinking and acting like adults.
Therefore, their religious profession, their expression in
prayer and worship, should be those of children.
The Sunday liturgies at St. Monica Parish, as in many
Catholic parishes, are adult presentations. The readings and
homily are for the adults, to deepen their understanding of
scripture, enrich their faith life and make this applicable
to their everyday life experiences. The children who
participate in this celebration are unable to comprehend the
beauty of the scripture or the message of the homily. This
celebration becomes a time of sitting still and being quiet
and is meaningless to them. What could be an enriching time
for them is instead a very negative experience. Because of
this concern, the parish would like to offer to our younger
members of the parish family, ages 4 through 8 years old, a
liturgy that would be meaningful to them and their faith life
experience. This liturgy would be a celebration for them as
active Christians rather than a passive non—meaningful time.
