By Sister Paulina Hurtado, O.P.
SAN BERNARDINO—A co-worker’s seven-year-old grandchild is invited by his mother at the beginning of Lent to reflect on what he’ll be giving up for Lent. After reflecting on the possibilities he says, “I’ll give up going to Church.”
Many of our children could respond the same way. Is it because they like Church very much or not at all? How inviting and inclusive do we make “the experience of Church” for them? At some special times they know they are part of the celebration, but are they developing their sense of God and their capacity to grasp and to answer to God’s love? Are they growing in appreciation of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as they move into the teen and the young adult years?