Q. We recently had a Mass on Sunday at our parish for catholic education or for religious education, I can’t remember which. The youth did all the readings. The readings were modified so the text was changed to read more like today’s writing. The same point was made. Is this OK, meaning can the readings be modified to make them more easily discerned by the youth?
A. The Vatican has approved a Lectionary for Masses with Children. In the United States we use the Contemporary English Version of the bible, rather than the New American Bible. The introduction to the book says this in paragraph 12:
The scriptural readings contained in this Lectionary may be used at Sunday Masses when a large number of children are present along with adults, or when the children have a separate liturgy of the word, or for Masses at which most of the congregation consists of children (e.g., school Masses).
A parish should not change the readings on its own, but it may use the lectionary for children, though it is not to be used “exclusively” or “preferentially” on Sundays (paragraph 13).