Our colleague Todd Flowerday has been examining the letter by Bl. John Paul II on the centenary anniversary of the 1903 MP “Tra le sollecetudini” of St. Pius X at his blog, CATHOLIC SENSIBILITY. He reflects upon that document in light of some musings about noisy children at Mass:
I was struck by this this thread (about noisy children) at PrayTell where I mused that children are expected to be mini-adults. Paul Inwood in turn commented that, “We forget that Jesus asked us to become like little children, not to make little children become like us.”
So sure: let’s keep dignity on the table. But let’s make sure we are talking about the dignity of the Lord Jesus, who welcomed children, and who, on the night before he died, set aside outer cloak and offended the dignity of Peter who protested that some things just do not belong.
I offer this video, with permission of the parties depicted as a testament to both the purity of the truth our Lord spoke when reminding us of the dignity of childhood in the Kingdom, and to the majesty and glory of what our children can teach us about how we go about our duties in sacred music.