"A whole hour! I can't sit still for five minutes. How do you expect me to sit still for a whole hour?" Taking my 5 year old daughter to Adoration with me.

As Catholics, we believe that Eucharistic Adoration is the most intimate form of prayer with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our non-Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ will be the first to tell us that we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I couldn't agree more. Catholics have the unique opportunity to take that relationship to the next level through prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Ask yourself, how much more personal can my relationship with Jesus be than sitting in His presence?

As Catholic parents, we should never ever keep this sacramental treasure to ourselves. Eucharistic Adoration can be for children too! Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16) Most parents will agree that kids have a hard time sitting still for an hour. This however, should not prevent us from exposing our children to Adoration for a few minutes at a time. Perhaps as little as 2 minutes at first, but gradually a little more, and a little more each time until they can sit for a longer period of time. We need to give our children's prayer-life a good and sturdy foundation from a very young age. How can we get a stronger foundation than by teaching them about Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament!

Earlier this summer, because my wife was taking our son to my parents for the weekend, and knowing that our 5 year old daughter would not react well to her big brother going and not her, I elected to take her with me to my weekly Holy Hour. My wife would be returning to town sometime while we were at Adoration and would stop by to pick our daughter up. When we entered the chapel we both genuflected before the Lord and I sat my daughter on my lap. After the person who was there before us left, I turned to a young man (who was a seminarian at the time) and asked him if he would be okay if my daughter and I prayed and talked out loud. He was agreeable to this and so I began to talk to my daughter and tried to explain to her how that simple looking piece of bread was in fact Jesus. Now, I am not about to tell you that my daughter understood a word I said. No five year old can understand the Real Presence, (sadly many adults don't understand it either,) but she believed that her daddy believed in it and that was good enough for her.

The first 5 minutes consisted of her praying her bedtime prayers. The next 5 minutes consisted of her asking me what she should pray for, and I told her pray for whatever you want. I coaxed her to pray to behave better which she replied, “Jesus, help me to behave and listen. Amen” and then made the fastest Sign of the Cross I had ever seen. My daughter turned to me and asked what else she should pray for, I said, "Anything". She said, “Can I ask Jesus for a new kitty?” To which I replied, “You better get on your knees for that one!”. I could see after 10 minute,s that we had reached the limit of her attention span. I began to pray feverishly myself. I prayed my wife would show up soon. I read her a Bible story, and we talked about Jesus to pass the time. Finally after 20 minutes, my beautiful little girl turned to me and asked, “Daddy, how long do we have to stay here for?” I replied, “For an hour.” She jumped out of her chair and in the world's loudest whisper, “A whole hour! I can't sit still for 5 minutes, how do you expect me to sit still and pray for a whole hour?” Unknown to my daughter, she made it almost 25 minutes before my wife arrived. God does answer prayers.

Don't expect your children to understand at first. Don't expect them to sit still and silent for an hour. But do bring them before the Lord and teach them to pray, both at home and before the Blessed Sacrament. Be pro-active in your children's catechesis. Teach them about Christ before secular society teaches them it's version of Christ. Teaching our children to pray at a young age, will strengthen their faith as adults and show them how rewarding a close relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ can be. Allowing them to see and feel that no matter how hard life may seem, He indeed is always there to listen and guide us, through all aspects of life!

Epilogue, Bailee did not get her kitty as she had prayed for. God did hear Bailee's prayer about the kitty, but God also heard Daddy's prayer of NO MORE KITTIES.