Packed Easter Masses can test anyone’s patience. The pews are full, toddlers are restless, babies are crying, and sometimes the distractions feel impossible to ignore. But Laura DeMaria offered a needed reminder on Morning Air: the people making noise at Mass belong there, too.
Laura reflected on attending Easter Sunday with her toddler, surrounded by families pressed tightly into the pews. As she tried to manage her active little boy, she was struck by a simple truth: parents of young children, people with disabilities, and anyone who struggles to sit still are not outsiders at church. They are part of the parish family. “We all belong in Mass,” she said. “We ought to welcome them.”
That insight grew into something deeper. Laura recalled her pastor’s memorable line: “If your parish isn’t crying, it’s dying.” It is a blunt but hopeful reminder that the sounds of children are signs of life, signs that the Church is still growing.
Sarah added her own perspective as a mother, describing the stress of walking children in and out of Mass, managing bathroom trips, and feeling the eyes of others. Yet she also shared a beautiful moment from an Adoration chapel, when a woman thanked her for bringing her child. That child’s presence had helped her see herself more clearly as a beloved child of God.
John Morales offered one more gentle thought. Sometimes even distractions can become “a holy distraction,” turning our hearts toward prayer and compassion.
At Mass, holiness does not always sound like silence. Sometimes it sounds like crying, whispering, rustling, or a tired parent doing their best. And that, too, can lead us closer to Christ.
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