Photo borrowed from Flickr

When I was a little girl (as far back as I can remember), I was taken to church every Sunday and told that I must be behaved. That meant sitting up straight in my seat in the pew, NOT talking out loud, NOT making noises such as shrieking, crying, whining or saying, “Mommy” or “Daddy” repeatedly.

I was expected to sit still and not try to clamber over the tops of pews into the next row. I knew I had to be quiet and perhaps silently flip through the childrens’ religious books that I had brought, like “They Disobeyed” (a thin paperback book with torn-paper artististic renderings of Adam and Eve), or “God Made The World” (another one about Creation) or “My Little Book of Saints”.

I was not permitted to blow saliva-bubbles, or eat crispy snacks from crunchy packets, or chew gum, or drink juice. I was at church to get something – even if only a small fragment of the adult experience – out of my being present in the house of God.

My parents did not let me wander to the end of the pew while they mouthed admonitions at me. Hah! If I ever DARED to commit such a misdemeanor, the fiery eyes of my father or the stern looks from my mother would make me hasten back to my spot with great speed.

NOT SO TODAY!

Now, I don’t subscribe to corporal punishment (having been on the end of the wooden spoon a few times in my day, I know that sting on the back of the legs), but I do believe in discipline. “Time Outs” at home and some good verbal reprimands go a long way to enforcing a firm foundation in the mind of a child.

Wee toddlers, should not be let loose on the congregation like a band of wild macaques! Such a distraction is cute for only an instant when one is trying to focus on the homily or the Consecration before Communion.

The “Quiet Room” at the back of the church, exists for a reason. Parents, I beg of you: please utilize this space for your tetchy, unruly youngsters who wish to chatter incessantly at the tops of their lungs, or insist on using the furniture like a jungle gym. If such a room is not available, please take your children to the back rows to disturb as little as possible.

We need to start now with young ones to create a sense of respect for the liturgy and being inside a church. Tell your children where you are taking them and why. Let them know that bad behaviour is displeasing to God and makes other people upset. Have mercy!

Beatasum