By Jack Shea
A woman, in her late forties and stylishly dressed, approached the priest as he stood outside the church after the 9:45 am Mass. “That baby screamed throughout your entire homily. Why didn’t you do something? You should have told the parents to take the child out. Didn’t that crying bother you?”
In fact, it did bother him. He lost his train of thought a couple of times, but he managed to get back on track. Preachers quickly learn to override the baby competition. This does not mean they win the battle to be heard. It just means they don’t stop, break down, and cry themselves.
But there is something profoundly disturbing about asking a crying baby to leave. Besides the embarrassment to the parents, there are deeper issues involved in this very minor moment of liturgy. Could it be that the nature of Eucharist welcomes crying babies?
There may be dozens of practical reasons why babies should be left at home, but there is one overwhelming reason why they should be present. They are one of us. Crying comes with the baby territory. (Actually, it comes with the adult territory, too; but we repair to the bathroom and do it more quietly.) People may try to quiet babies, but nobody begrudges them a good wail. When they are there, the human condition is rounded out. And their occasional or sustained outbursts remind us of a fact that liturgies often leave us in doubt about. We are alive.
Excerpted from Daybreaks, Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter, written by Jack Shea, copyright ©2008. Used with permission of Liguori Publications, Liguori, MO 63057. 1-800-325-9521. www.liguori.org
For information about this booklet of beautiful reflections, please click this link: http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=10975
3 comments:
I was at this mass that you are talking about. Yes it was distracting however you are right in that they are one of God's children just like the rest of us quiet people sitting in church. They deserve to be there like the rest of us. Perhaps we are a little to focused on things being perfect.
I've been the one getting 'looks' in church while trying to quiet my own children during mass at times.
People need to remember where they are and why they are there.
Thank you for your post.
I agree that people need to be a bit more tolerant of little ones in general but there has to be a balance. If a child/baby continues to cry,one of the parents should take them out. That's how we handled it when our kids were little.
I would agree but there are two important issues to discuss: 1. The Church needs an adequate CRY ROOM or area where those that need it can have access to it. In addition, the church needs an adequate nursery that doesn't CHARGE people money to use it. Charging money for a nursery on a Sunday morning mass, make young couples want to go to another church. I rarely carry my wallet.
Finally, I would consider getting more signs out that communicate: we welcome families, families are loveable, families are valued. In make creative marketing techniques and not to mention more visibility for the nursery - right now there is none. This parish can grow and get better through the coming years.
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