A message from Fr Shaun
One of the most uplifting changes I’ve witnessed in my time as your Parish Priest is
the growing presence of young families at Sunday Mass, especially at our 11.00 am Sunday Family Mass.
The presence of young families brings a vibrant energy and a promising future to our parish.
If you are parents with young children, I want to express my deep gratitude for your
commitment to bringing your children to Mass. I understand the challenges you face in
getting them here, and I want to commend you for making Sunday worship a significant
part of your week. Your efforts are not in vain, and they contribute greatly to the spiritual
growth of your children and the strengthening of our community.
Getting your children to Mass might be a challenging experience, but it saddens me that
sometimes what parents with young children experience at Mass can also be a challenge – so
challenging perhaps that it actually puts them off wanting to make an effort.
Since the autumn, I’ve been advocating for a crucial aspect of our parish’s renewal – the
practice of radical hospitality. Radical hospitality means going beyond the norm to make
everyone feel welcome, especially families with young children. How might radical
hospitality relate to our young families? It’s perhaps easiest explained by saying what it’s
not.
Radical hospitality doesn’t involve showing our annoyance, displeasure, or disapproval
verbally, by looks, or by gestures to families with young children when their children are a
bit “noisy” or restless.
Radical hospitality doesn’t involve indicating to parents verbally, by looks, or by gestures
that they and their “noisy” or restless children should take themselves off to the side chapel
because “that’s the place for crying, noisy, or restless children.”
Now, to be clear, parents have a responsibility, too. Parents, when one of your children is
having a screaming tantrum, it’s probably a good idea for everyone concerned for you to
take them to the Welcoming Area or, if the weather is fine, even outside for a brief while
until they’re more settled. But, having said that, there’s a greater responsibility on the rest of
us to make young families feel genuinely welcomed.
Radical hospitality implies more than simply being tolerant. It’s about embracing and
welcoming our young families. Young children are not a disturbance but a vital part of our
church. A church without their laughter and energy is a church that’s losing its vibrancy, a
church literally losing its future.
And to those parents who choose to go to the side chapel or feel that you ought to go there
or that someone has told you that’s where you ought to go, I want you to know that I don’t
want you to be there. I want you to be in the main body of the church with us!
It’s really hard to be engaged fully with the Mass if you’re isolating yourself in the side
chapel. It literally becomes a “Crying Room” or “Play Room”. If you want to be in there, I’m
not going to stop you, obviously, but I do need you to know that I do not expect or want
you to be in there. I want you to be worshipping with us in the main body of the Church.
And for anyone sitting here in the main body of the church who’s thinking, “Hang on a
minute, Fr Shaun, that’s going to mean the church is really noisy.” Well, yes, it may mean that
sometimes, but rather than moaning about it, let’s rejoice that we’re a vibrant church full of
young families.
Welcoming families with young children into our church with open arms isn’t just a matter
of good manners; it’s something deeply rooted in Jesus’s teachings and example. When Jesus
said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these,” he emphasised the importance of welcoming and
embracing children within the community of faith.
Establishing a genuinely welcoming atmosphere for young families involves acknowledging
that children are not disturbances to be controlled or silenced but are integral members of
our congregation. It means recognising that their vitality, inquisitiveness, and, yes,
occasional interruptions are natural signs of their youthful enthusiasm and thirst for
knowledge.
By welcoming families with young children into our church with radical hospitality, we not
only honour Jesus’s command to welcome the little ones but also strengthen the fabric of our
community of faith. We create spaces where all are valued, all are included, and all are
loved—just as Jesus intended. In doing so, we bear witness to the transformative power of
God’s love, which knows no boundaries and embraces all who seek him.
Fr Shaun