REGINA: “Kiddies’ ghetto”?
JOSEPH SHAW: Yes. In the kiddies’ ghetto itself you get not tut-tutting but, all too often, a feeling by many of the children, and even some of their parents, that there is no need to make any effort to maintain a prayerful atmosphere.
In that situation children are never going to learn what kind of behaviour is appropriate at Mass.
REGINA: What do you suggest, instead?
JOSEPH SHAW: The ideal situation, to help parents teach their children how to behave appropriately, is a Mass where there is an atmosphere to pick up on and examples to follow: not a zoo-like atmosphere, not a church full of tut-tutting old people, and not behind a sound-proof glass screen.
REGINA: How should one prepare to engage with the Latin liturgy for the first time?
JOSEPH SHAW: There is nothing special you need to do.
The liturgy is not a test for which you should study: it is an experience.
If you want to get the most out of it, you may want to learn more about it, but you have to have the experience first, and you have to have it repeatedly.
REGINA: And the children?
REGINA |8