Teach Your Kids the Mass: Part 4

(This is the fourth in a series of five articles assisting parents in teaching the parts of the Mass to their children to enlighten them on what is taking place and help them develop a deeper understanding of why attending Mass is critical to our spiritual health. Note that the following explanations of the parts of the Mass and our expected responses/actions are written for the most common Mass that Catholics attend in the U.S. – the Novus Ordo Mass – as opposed to a Traditional Latin Mass.)

This fourth part in a series of articles to assist parents in teaching the Mass to their youngsters discusses the time of the Mass that most people assume is the central component – Holy Communion. In reality, the central component actually occurred immediately prior when at the Consecration the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ was brought about (as explained in last week’s Part 3 article). Communion is nevertheless certainly significant, and the following details on how to teach children about this special time in the Mass will challenge many parents who might be hesitant to change how they themselves receive the Body of Christ. 

Parents would do well to ask their children to ponder how amazing the Eucharist and Communion is. This moment in the Mass is the time when Our Lord is offering himself to us to be the food for our souls. As He enters our bodies, we get to have Jesus closer to us than He could ever be – other than when we will be with Him in heaven in the future. 

Because Holy Communion is the greatest gift we could be offered, we should not come to receive it in a casual and unconcerned manner. Catholics know that this truly is the Body of Christ we are receiving, and not a symbolic piece of bread that most other non-Catholic Christians assume. Thus, we should not be acting like we are approaching the samples table at Costco and hoping to be handed a sample treat to savor. We should receive Jesus reverently and with meaningfulness. Thus, parents should teach their kids the proper way to act during Communion.

You may be surprised at how some of these following details were not only never taught to your children when your parish’s faith formation director instructed them at their First Holy Communion, but they were most likely also not taught to your generation of parents or your kids’ grandparents’ generation. 

• Walk slowly with your hands folded in prayer and focusing your eyes on the crucifix behind the altar as you make your way to the priest, deacon, or Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. This is not a time to look down the pews to see if you can spot any friends.

• When the person immediately in front of you is receiving the host – and if you will be receiving while standing – you should take that time to bow to show reverence, just as a knight would bow before a king.

• However, the best way to reverence a king – especially Jesus, the King of the World – is to kneel. Thus, the preferred way to receive the host is to kneel, and if you will be kneeling, you do not need to bow immediately prior.

• The priest or minister will hold up the host and say, “Body of Christ,” and you respond, “Amen!” – which means “I believe!” You then receive the Body of Christ one of two ways – on the palm of your hand or on your tongue. 

• Receiving on the hand is a more modern action to take; however, it is not the preferred way. Furthermore, most people have been taught incorrectly how to receive on the hand. A person choosing to receive on the hand should hold one hand open with their other hand below it, making a “throne” for the host to be placed on the palm of the top hand. You then are to bend your head down to literally eat the Body of Christ off your palm. Contrary to what most were taught at their First Communion in recent generations, you don’t want to pick up the host with your fingers as this creates a chance of dropping particles – which are particles of Jesus! The proper action is to eat directly from your palm, and even licking your palm of particles if need be.

• A strong suggestion if your family presently receives Communion on the hand is to challenge them – and yourself – to receive the ideal way, which is to have the priest/minister place it directly on your tongue. This is the Precious Body of Christ, and when you receive on your tongue you are making sure Christ’s entire Body remains intact. Teach your children to receive in this manner – which has been the expected way for about 1,941 of the Church’s 1,991 years –  by opening their mouths and extending their tongues in a respectful way, allowing the host to easily be placed there by the priest/deacon/minister.

• It is optional to make the Sign of the Cross immediately after receiving the Body of Christ.

• If you are at a Mass where the Blood of Christ is also being offered, but you do not want to drink the wine, you should make a small, reverent bow when passing the priest/deacon/minister who is holding the chalice.

• If you do want to receive the Precious Blood, use both hands to take the chalice that is offered you, and as the priest/deacon/minister says, “Blood of Christ,” you respond, “Amen!” (“I believe!”) You drink a little sip, hand the cup back to the minister, and walk back to your seat.

• Just as you did when walking forward to receive Communion, when walking back to your pew after receiving you should do so in a slow and respectful manner with your hands folded in prayer and not looking around the church. You now have Christ in your body and soul! You should be in awe, totally focused on this miracle!

• Kneel at your pew to pray, thanking Jesus for coming to you and asking Him to help you to be more like Him in how you behave and treat others. Closing your eyes to prevent distractions and to be able to pray more fervently is a great idea. You can also silently read one of the “prayers after Communion” that you’ll find in the Missal.

Parents will find that if they not only teach their children the above reverent actions to take when receiving Communion, but practice these themselves, the Eucharist will become a more fulfilling experience. The host is not a treat we are being handed like a jellybean to casually pop in our mouths. This is Jesus! Because receiving while standing and in the hand can too easily be treated nonchalantly, my challenge to those not currently doing so is to switch to receiving Holy Communion in the manner that Catholics have received for most of the Church’s history – kneeling and on the tongue.

Educate your kids that when the distribution of Communion is over, the priest or deacon will put the unused hosts in the tabernacle so they’ll be some ready for the next Mass or to be available to bring to the sick and homebound later that week. Additionally, the Body of Christ in these hosts is put in the tabernacle so when we come to church any time during the week, we can visit Jesus because we know he’s in the tabernacle. Point out that we genuflect toward the tabernacle whenever we enter church because of this reason.  

After closing the tabernacle, the priest will typically sit down, and this is a time for all of us to observe a period of Sacred Silence.  During this time we have the opportunity to silently thank God for renewing each of us in the Eucharist. 

We will then all stand for the Prayer after Communion, with the priest praying that the spiritual and healing effects of the Eucharist we have just shared be carried out in our everyday lives. Mass ends with the Concluding Rite, which includes a blessing and a mandate from the priest or deacon that is typically something like, “Go forth, the Mass is ended” or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

All those celebrating the Mass should remain until the ministers have processed down the entire aisle and reached the rear of the Church and/or the congregation has finished singing the recessional hymn. Although most people seem to have a hard time exiting the church as quietly as they entered, the recommended way to walk out is in silence, after first genuflecting one final time while facing the tabernacle.  

The aim of this series has been to help parents teach their children what to expect during the Mass, why the priest is doing certain things, and what we are to do or say in response. How will kids not only learn how to behave during Mass but also realize that in Mass God is speaking to them, if parents don’t teach them, take them, and even tame them, if need be? In the upcoming fifth and final article of this five-part series, we will provide some valuable suggestions for parents to better assure the intrinsic importance of the Mass is instilled in their sons and daughters.