Reverence Lost

This morning we attended May Crowning (a special mass to recognize Mary and all of the 2nd grade 1st communicants) at the church, rather than our usual celebration space, the gym (oh, sorry-Trinity Hall). It was so beautiful having mass at church-the acoustics were better, the setting is more sacred (no basketball hoops), and mass can be celebrated in all its' glory (you can sit, stand, and kneel). And what a perfect mass to have there, with all the 2nd graders in their white dresses or suits and ties, hair pulled up and curled or slicked back, being so respectful. It honestly brought tears to my eyes.

However, having mass at church also meant that the kids had no idea what to expect or what was expected of them. Despite having a pep talk both yesterday and this morning, I still had kids who didn't know to genuflect into the pew (because we don't do it at Trinity Hall-there is no tabernacle present). Other kids didn't know when to kneel because, again, we can't kneel at Trinity Hall-there are no kneelers. Many of the kids were standing on the kneelers, playing with the music books and clips, and whispering to each other throughout mass. It drove me NUTS! I don't know which bothered me more-that the children were behaving this way, or them not really knowing how to behave due to both their parents and their school doing them a disservice. Despite it eating into our whole morning, I really wish we would have mass at the church more often. Maybe then our munchkins can find the reverence that is so desperately needed.