KAMPALA, Uganda – Recently I had a moving experience with a young parent, James (whom I had not known before) who came into Mbuya church in Kampala, Uganda with three little kids. He was on his way to drop them at the nearby Our Lady of Africa Kindergarten. But before he dropped them there, he came in with the kids to pray. Two of the kids were his own while the third was of a neighbor whom he was helping.

The daily morning Mass had just ended when James and the three little kids entered the church. Before branching off to the pew, James genuflected and the three kids all followed suit. With two kids on one side and one on the other, James knelt there with eyes closed and hands opened before him, the eldest of the kids (about five years) began the prayers.

With a child’s simplicity the little boy said, “In the name of the Father and of the Son ..., soon the other two little girls joined him. Their father followed with a muffled voice.

The little boy went on to pray the “Our Father ..., Hail Mary and the Glory be.... with the other three joining him. He then went on to say a simultaneous prayer asking God to look after their family, make them good kids and bless mummy and daddy, thus concluding it with “in the name of Jesus, we pray,” to which his father and the little girls replied “Amen!” I could not help but smile over this beautiful experience.

It really moved me to hear a little kid saying such simple but honest prayer to God for his family. The prayers didn’t seem like something memorized or prompted by an adult. For me it was prayers that came straight from his heart and no wonder Jesus in the scriptures implores us to receive the kingdom of God like the little children.

He then started a song which all of them joined. But as time was running late, their father stood up to go but his little sister interrupted saying she also wanted to start a song and they all knelt back. She started “There is a Redeemer, Jesus Son of God ..., and once again they all joined and sung.

Even though the kids’ voices kept going higher and higher, it felt like a ‘necessary distraction.’  I could see most of the worshippers who had remained behind for personal prayers were all smiles as they looked toward the direction of the praying family.

Then the journalist in me sprung up. I was moved by the way they prayed and I wanted to take the photo of the family as they prayed but I realized this would distract them and I had to restraint myself from doing so. But even so, the kids were never distracted in their prayer even though most of the people were now looking at them.

As they stood up to go, I could not resist the urge to follow them. I met them at their car and thanked James for bringing the kids to pray before dropping them at school. He said in their family of four, each one had a day of leading prayers for the rest of the family and that made the children to know how to pray.

At our conversation, the kids who were already in the car jumped out to greet me. They were full of joy and they even asked me where I lived. I asked James if the little girls were twins since they seemed to look alike. He said one of them was a neighbor’s kid whom he offered to drop at school along with his children.

The morning’s experience left me feeling warm-hearted and I thanked God for this family. I could not help but wonder how many families have a chance to pray together. I could see the joy that was radiating from the faces of these little kids and their father. To me it is an example of a family that prays together and that explains the reason why the kids are able to pray.

I believe it is occasions like this that introduce children to the love of God and when this continues, the children come to grow with the love of God in them. But not many people have this opportunity to pray together as a family, let alone go to church together.

In fact it is not uncommon to find families in which children are not able to make even the sign of the cross or even wait to bless the meal before eating.

It is therefore not surprising that many children find going to church as a waste of time when they are growing up. This is because they were not introduced to church/prayer early in life. Parents have a responsibility to introduce their children to the love of God. That responsibility officially starts at baptism.

When children are baptized, it is done on the basis of the faith of their parents and it is they (the parents) who are to introduce these children to the love of God. And parents on their part are to be supported in this responsibility by godparents or sponsors as they are commonly known. That’s why the choice of a godparent must be carefully made so that they can support the child on their journey of faith.