Catholic school teachers have been asked by the Peoria Diocese to prepare our students for the missal change beginning in Advent. How do you prepare 4-year-olds, I wondered. Impossible. They’re still fighting the urge to play in the holy water! (This photo is from our trip to the monastery. They loved our big hammered brass font … and wanted to play in it!!)

And yet, I was determined to try to teach them about the new Roman Missal. I started by explaining the Mass wasn’t written in English to begin with. This isn’t too hard for my kids to get – we have a number of children who are bilingual. They know the word desk in English is different in Spanish.

I told them the important people in the church translate the Mass into English for us, and that they made some changes. I told them they would hear those changes when they saw the Advent wreath in church (that’s the monastery’s wreath at right).

Then I told them one of the changes would happen when Father Greg says, “The Lord be with you.” Right now, I reminded them, we answer, “And also with you.” But the response will change to, “And with your spirit.”

We made a game of it as we practiced. I’d say “The Lord be with you,” sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, sometimes in a whisper. They’d respond, “And with your spirit,” as loudly or as quietly as I did.

I’m sure they won’t understand a ton by Advent, but they’ll get this line right. I’M SURE OF IT!!