5 Tips to Help Adults Focus at Mass

Advance Reading

It always helps me to focus at Mass if I have read the readings beforehand. It also helps to receive the daily readings in the Blessed Is She Devotion each morning! I usually click on the link in the email and read the readings, psalm and Gospel along with the thoughtful reflection based on them. You can subscribe to Blessed Is She here

  • Missal

    The truth is…my hearing isn’t so great. I have a little trouble hearing the readings if the reader isn’t perfectly clear and if there is someone rustling a cough candy wrapper in the next pew.  I find it much easier to focus if I’m following along with the readings as they are read.

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  • The Adam-friendly Crying Room

    Should we Cement-In all Crying Rooms?

    There have been times when I have banished myself to the crying room. Particularly with a tiny infant when my breast-feeding attempts were pretty awkward…and about as discrete as Adam eating chocolate cake. I was just grateful to catch a few words while attracting as little attention as possible.

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    Hi Frankie! It’s MAY!

    Want to read more of the Catholic Toddler Letters?

    Hey Frankie!

    I was wondering how you’re doing! We haven’t written in a while, but I thought I’d tell you what I’ve been up to.

    I turned three, I’ve got a cool set of Animal Planet animals and my brother’s old workbench, that actually looks pretty new. I’ve  got some cool tools (even if I broke the hammer already) and my Dad filled the sandbox with nice new sand. I figured out how to reach chocolate and the pancake  mix in the high cupboards and they pumped up my basketball, so it’s got a good bounce.

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    Adam says…Hey, Frankie…

    Adam and Frankie are toddlers who correspond through their Mom’s blogs Equipping Catholic Families and Catholic All Year  about being Catholic and being the youngest in a big Catholic family. For the complete correspondence of Adam and Frankie…check out The Catholic Toddler Letters! Dear Frankie, It has been a while since we corresponded! I learned about some of the things you have been up to on your Mom’s blog including what your family does on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday! I know that this is the most important week of the whole year for us Catholics, but I’ve got to tell you, I’m working on my game plan for some long liturgies.  I know we’ve discussed Mass Survival Tips and Mass Survival Strategies, but I think the next couple days at Church will really put those to the test! I’m going to be 3 years old in a couple weeks and I have just started to reflect on toddlerdom and thought I could pass along a few tips.  These tips don’t have anything to do with going to Mass, but I thought you might like to take it from me: These are some things you shouldn’t do (even if it seems like a good idea at the time): 1. Have a tantrum at the bank because your Mom doesn’t let you run into the vault. 2. Drop to the floor and pretend that your Mom dropped you and launch into a kicking and screaming fit…also at the bank. 3. Break the St Anthony statue that has been in your sister’s room forever…and in your Dad’s room when he was a kid…and hide it in a bag. 4. Color your legs with blue marker while you sit on your Mom’s white duvet. 5. Call 9-1-1 even though your sister did it twice when she was your age and the police were really nice (and cool looking) when they came to the door (when I did it). 6. Eat marshmallows that are really old because there is no reasonable chocolate to be found in the house these weekdays of Lent! 7. Break the cute little country-house-teapot or really any other wedding presents of your parents’. 8. Clean the toilet. Or try to empty your own potty into the toilet. Or pee standing up before you’re Dad gets a chance to coach you. 9. Press the garage door opener closer, when your Mom is getting the groceries out of the trunk of the van (parked in the garage) so that the door comes down on her head. …and lastly, 10. Insist on going out -with only your boots on- even if it is officially Spring. Most of these thing happened in the last week… I bet I’ll have another list for you soon! So do you have anything planned for Church during the Triduum? I have a feeling that my Mom is going to bring some props to try and keep me busy.  I’m thinking the

    Reverence & Awe cards

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    Hey Frankie…it’s a Snow Day!

    Hi Frankie,
    Sorry I haven’t been writing so much this week, but I’ve been pretty busy playing in the snow.You see, last Friday was a “snow day” which meant my older siblings were home from school because the buses were cancelled and most people were just staying home.  It was good to have them home, because we had a lot of work to do!

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    A Letter to Frankie about the All for Jesus Lent Challenge

    Hi Frankie,

    Nice to hear about your plans for Lent.  I like your =&0=&(wow, do you get to hold a candle?!?) and I think the counting to 40 after Grace before Meals is a simple, but pretty effective idea. I’ve been insisting on leading Grace for my family these days, but I think that they suspect that I don’t really know all the words.  I don’t think I can quite count to 40 (maybe 11, with a couple jumbled numbers?) but I bet one of my older sisters or brother could lead that.

    Well, I showed you in my last letter some of the things my family has done for Lent in the past.  I like how your family does so many different things and you try to make them a habit for the rest of the year.  I suspect that our family will try to do one or two things…maybe even a different focus for each week in Lent.

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    Adam’s got mail! Frankie’s Guide for Lent

    =&0=& here’s Frankie’s latest letter over at Catholic All Year:=&1=& read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

    Hey Frankie! Meet Boppa!

    another letter from  Adam to Frankie in the Catholic Toddler Letters

    Hi Frankie,

    Well, I’m not sure if you remember in my last letter how I asked





    “Hey Frankie, what’s the deal with the other people (without little kids) insisting on sitting at the end of the pew so that it’s really hard for parents to leave the pew with a screaming kid?”

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    Hey, Adam’s got mail! Another Catholic Toddler Letter from Frankie!

    =&0=& Hey, before you check it out… would you consider voting for my Mom’s blog over at A Knotted Life? =&1=& =&2=&=&3=& =&4=& =&5=& read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

    A Letter to Frankie about Mom’s Mass Survival Tips

    If you are not familiar with the Catholic Toddler Letters of Frankie and Adam, please check out
    An Open Letter to the Church Lady
    The Catholic Toddler Letters: Adam’s Letter to Frankie (2)
    Frankie Gets A Penpal (3)

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