Last Sunday December 21st there was an invitation extended to the parishioners of Castlebar to attend the Children's Liturgy at 6 o’clock in the Church of the Holy Rosary. It was an inspiration to see over a hundred children dressed as angels, kings and shepherds carrying food packages into the church. It was done simply and it was presented in a laid-back manner.

For over three years every Sunday children under the age of eight have been attending the children's liturgy at the ten o’clock Mass and people have seen the great work done by this group. Last Sunday their telling of the story of Christmas and singing carols – the children dressed in colourful tea towels and scarves – provided a nice contrast to the chaos of the shoppers in the town. It was lovely to see that the Christmas message was not yet lost in a society where materialism seems to be at the fore. The children heard the story of Christmas and in return offered a gift to the marginalised by making up food hampers to be given to families in need. All this was done simply with no fuss.

So I say congrats to the children's liturgy leaders for providing this wonderful service to our children and ensuring that the real message of Christmas is not lost. Listening to the children the truth of the quotation "out of the mouths of babes came words of wisdom" struck me. So hopefully this wonderful service will continue into the future and that we can all learn from it.