God has blessed many of the faithful at Saint Brigid with the gift of children as our parish continues to flourish spiritually. We see many young families at our Sunday Masses. Our Catechism teaches us that parents are the primary educators of their children in the ways of the faith. Our Holy Father, Pope Leo has encouraged parents to take this responsibility seriously and has called upon the Church and all Christian communities to accompany and support parents in their educative role.
One way the Church can assist parents is through our “Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW)” ministry. As previously explained in our Parish School of Religion guidelines, the “CLOW ministry enables children to participate in the formal worship experience, to nourish and guide their spiritual growth and to immerse them in the Word of God in ways that are understandable to them.”
Children are encouraged to attend Mass with their parents, and then, “The children are dismissed from Mass during the Liturgy of the Word. They are escorted to the chapel and assisted by volunteer shepherds. They will hear the Word from the Children’s Lectionary. The leader guides the children to an understanding of the Gospel that they can embrace. The children will return to their parents at the offertory.”
The guidelines also state that, “All the elements that help to explain the readings are given great consideration so that the children may make the bible readings their own and may come more and more to appreciate the value of God’s word.”
CLOW is offered at the 9:00 am Sunday Mass during our Parish School of Religion (PSR) season, extending from September to May. All children, ages 4 years old through First Grade, are welcome to participate. There is no registration necessary.
The following “Prayer for Guidance”, provided by the media outlet “CROSSWALK”, asks God to guide our precious children on their journey of faith:
Heavenly Father, guide our children in every step they take.
Lead them in Your wisdom and truth and help them to seek Your guidance in all things.
May they walk in Your ways and grow in understanding and in righteousness.
Grant them the courage to follow the path You have laid out for them,
trusting in Your love and provision. In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
As we reflect on this prayer, please note that our ministry coordinators stated that they “are looking for Leaders who enjoy children and engaging them in learning about the Gospel stories.” The Leaders would rotate and assist about one Sunday per month. Please contact our CLOW coordinators Barbara Kratz or Jennifer Taylor if you would like to participate.
We thank our coordinators and their staff for all they do to assist our children as they grow in their knowledge and understanding of the faith.