Noisy Children and the Life of our Church

As a mom who has been there on many a Saturday night Mass alone with three young children, I know without a doubt that fortitude comes directly from the Holy Spirit. Wrangling the frequent circus that often escalated in our pew was definitely not done on my own power. In fact, after one particularly difficult Mass for the Melius kids, a parishioner told his wife, "If she keeps coming, it will be a miracle." 
Yes, it was a miracle. Through God's grace, that beautiful gift of fortitude, friendly parishioners' encouragement, and good old-fashioned German stubbornness, we all made it through those trying toddler years to the years when my boys would race each other into church to be chosen as an altar server for that Sunday.
After a few quiet years as the younger generation took time to go to college, get married, and start their own families, our parish is now alive with the sound of babies and children. Our priest, Fr. Tom, consistently thanks their parents for bringing them to mass, and I hope our young families continue to feel encouraged in their faithful presence.
We each have a responsibility to pass the faith down to the next generation. If all you can manage is a smile for a young parent, that will be enough.


From "Noisy Children at Mass are Part of our Catholic Community," by Christina Antus, bustedhalo.com--

Sometimes all we have when it comes to our faith is perseverance, especially when it’s hard. If I stop going to Mass because my kids are little and loud, or busy and distracting, I set an example for them that church isn’t important. If I quit, I will have failed God, who entrusted my children to me so that I could love them and raise them to love him. 

When we baptized our children, we promised we would raise them in the faith. I have come to understand that motherhood is my vocation and a huge part of that is to make sure my kids have a foundation in their Christian faith. Even though they don’t seem to be doing much praying during Mass, they are immersed in prayer. (I know because our 5-year-old sometimes recites snippets of the creed when he plays with his trucks.) 

I, like many parents, have discovered that children learn by continual repetition. They don’t learn to walk the first time you stand them up. They don’t learn how to eat from a spoon after the first feeding. It all takes practice and patience. So, of course they don’t learn how to be silently still in Mass just because they are there. 

My hope is that people will grow to make families with little kids feel more welcome. We should not only embrace young families at Mass, but celebrate them. We have to nurture our community or there won’t be one. 

To read the entire post, visit

Noisy Children at Mass are Part of our Catholic Community