Catholic Sensibility

Lectionary with Children Nan asked: "I serve on the Liturgy Committee of a Catholic School. What do you do when the daily Lectionary readings are too difficult for the children's daily Mass? The Lectionary for Children is fine (at times) for our children in Grades 1-4, but the Lectionary for Weekday Masses sometimes contains readings that are beyond the understanding of the children in Grades 5 & 6. For example, in November there are a series of Readings from Revelation. Is there another approved translation that can be used?" Working these questions in reverse order, I would say first that the approved translations possible for Masses with children are either in the children's Lectionary or the main Lectionary. Staying within bounds, those two translations would be the extent of options. Unless your bishop has decreed specifically, it's up to the pastor to determine the specific age or grade boundary for using one Lectionary or the other. I would agree that boundary falls somewhere between grades 4 and 7, so I think your own practice is a sensible one. It's important to keep in mind that November's Lectionary focuses on the end times and points to both the second coming of Christ as well as liturgical Advent. It is possible to celebrate votive Masses with children and use totally different readings on most ordinary weekdays, but I think a general policy of "sheltering" them from "difficult" Bible stories is counterproductive in the long run. My instinct is that even third and fourth graders would understand on some level Daniel, the Maccabees, and some of the oracles in Revelation. Clearly, these difficult readings would need to be the focus of the homily, rather than the Gospel. And even if you don't have the cooperation of the homilist, I'm not sure it's altogether bad for something at Mass to be less ... intelligible for kids. Most fifth graders I've known to train as altar servers haven't mastered the basic parts of the Mass yet (or at least most seem unable to articulate what happens next without a lot of prompting) but I think the Mass still has spiritual value for them. (I pray it does, anyway.) By the way, if any reader has a specific liturgical or musical (or other) question you want to put me on the hot seat for, just e-mail me and I'll post within a day or two.