‘My Mass Kit’ helps children learn about liturgy
Steve and Joni Abdalla, second and fourth from left, play with their daughters, from left, Emma, Ruth and Vivian in their home in Indianapolis on April 1. The family is playing with the “My Mass Kit,” the first toy of the Abdalla’s Catholic toy company, Wee Believers. The Abadallas are members of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Sean Gallagher
Entrepreneurs often go to great lengths to envision a new business or product that will capture the imagination of consumers and fill a void in the marketplace.
When asked for the source of their inspiration, Steve and Joni Abdalla responded quickly.
“We had kids at Mass,” Joni said with a laugh.
She and her husband are the founders of Wee Believers (www.weebelievers.com), a Catholic toy company. Along with their three young daughters, they are members of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.
Their first product, “My Mass Kit,” was recently launched. It is a packet of toys that resemble everything you would need to celebrate Mass: a chalice, paten, hosts, corporal crucifix, candles, cruets and thurible. It also comes with a small carrying case and an instructional booklet.
All of the toys are made of cloth so that if small children play with them at Mass, they won’t make loud, distracting noises.
While both thought “My Mass Kit” would keep youngsters still at Mass, they soon concluded it could also be a learning tool.
“The in-church use has become, I think, a side use,” Steve said. “The educational use has become [primary] for homeschooling and in catechetical programs.”
The pair’s ecclesiastical advisor, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the top canon law court in the Holy See in Rome, recently helped them see another important potential purpose for “My Mass Kit”: inspiring priestly vocations.
He told them that he had played with a toy Mass kit when he was a boy and that, over time, this influenced his vocational discernment.
Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and pastor of Holy Rosary, agreed with Archbishop Burke.
“We have all kinds of toys to prepare children to take on various jobs or vocations in life: dolls for girls to imitate motherhood; weapons for boys to imitate soldiers; little doctor or nurse kits, cars and trucks, train sets,” Msgr. Schaedel said. “ ‘My Mass Kit’ is a great thing for boys to ‘play Mass’ and perhaps begin thinking about becoming a priest.”
This new horizon for their product brought the importance of their work home in a new way for Steve and Joni.
“It’s a very humbling feeling because the vocation avenue kind of evolved very recently,” Joni said. “We really just wanted to provide fun Catholic toys that are well made and are attractive, that give children and parents a deeper knowledge and love of the Catholic faith.
“Now we’re getting letters and pictures from people saying that [play] Mass is being held at their home every day.”
The vocational aspect of “My Mass Kit” has inspired the idea for Wee Believer’s next product line: a series of dolls that portray priests and members of various religious orders for men and women.
“We’re going to feature several different orders of priests in the priest instruction booklet and different orders of nuns in the nun instruction booklet,” Joni said. “[We’ll] tell children how these people began their journey to religious life. That’s really exciting.”
Steve thinks having toys like “My Mass Kit” and the vocations dolls will help nurture a culture of vocations in Catholic families.
“Our minds are typically drawn to what we see most of the time,” he said. “So we’re hoping to put more things that are related to Jesus and God in their daily life.”
(“My Mass Kit” can be purchased online at www.weebelievers.com or the two Indianapolis locations of Angel’s Corner. The stores are located at 6901 E. 10th St., #B, Indianapolis, and 2316 E. Southport Rd., Indianapolis. Call 317-353-8220 or
317-784-0890 for more information, or go to
www.angels-corner.com.) †
