Every year, my kids ask for a Sunday Mass Journal.
Every year, I find one for them.
Some of them are published from Advent to Pentecost, then Pentecost through the Feast of Christ the King. Some of them include the Mass readings, some of them include the citations for the readings.
None of them get used.
My kids, now in their teens and twenties, don’t want another homework assignment. They don’t want Mass to be an academic exercise but a relationship exercise. With them in mind, and with the push of Kristi Burton, from Meridian, Idaho, I created a Mass Journal for them.
And for me, really.
This 2024 Sunday Mass Journal—written for teens, young adults, and the young-at-heart—is meant to get messy. Write in it, draw in it, make it your own. We are more likely to fully participate in the Mass when we are actively engaged in the readings, prayers, and songs: these pages are meant to allow us to be active listeners since many people learn and think in ways more physical than simply sitting, watching, and listening.
Hosannah in the Highest is a 146-page and 6-inch by 9-inch journal that begins with the 1st Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2023, and offers two pages per Mass—Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation—with a collection of prayers in the back and plenty of space to develop your faith—but not so much space as to be overwhelming. Each Sunday offers reading citations and a prayer for the week as well as spaces for prayer intentions, a reflection question, notes, and doodling. The green version offers headings in a bold font and the pink version offers headings in a cursive font.
Either way, it’s a great way to dive into worship.
Amazon is offering the journals in hardcover now, and in paperback soon.