November 13, 2009
The Christian Journey
Baptism: Initiation into the Church as active members
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
Baptism “initiates us into Christ and the Church” as active members. The parents’ desire to bring their infants to be baptized with water is insufficient in itself. Their infant’s baptism must also express their commitment to belong to Christ and the Church AND to participate in parish life. The parent’s desire AND water baptism must always go hand-in-hand to “wash away” original sin. Priests/deacons don’t officiate at some “instantaneous” or “magical” ritual claiming that water baptism is sufficient in itself without the parent’s pledge to live and to raise their children as active Catholics.
Infant baptism can present pastors with situations calling for resolution in dialogue with the parents. A typical situation is “How much does the Catholic Church ‘require’ of parents at infant baptism.” The minimum expectations are the “Church laws” (the most basic one being weekend Mass participation).
Can the Church continue to baptize infants of parents, who make it known by their absence that they do not intend to be “connected” to the parish? If we continue this custom of baptizing infants of inactive parishioners — without spending sufficient time to strengthen their faith — bishops and pastors will forever wring their hands because over time the number of inactive Catholics will increase. We must find the courage, wisdom and compassion to deal with this situation at infant baptism.
At a recent St. Joseph (Jasper) parental baptismal session, we discussed the reasons why young parents find participation in weekend Eucharist difficult. We didn’t judge them; we simply laid them out for our parents to reflect on them. Parents are the only ones who can determine which reasons are valid or which demand change.
- Parents’ work schedules are the overall issue hindering weekend Mass participation:
- Today both parents may find it necessary to work outside the home.
- The cost-of-living, college savings, retirement funds, our economic hard times, etc. may require both parents to work.
- The “Madison Avenue Syndrome” lures parents (like many of us) to believe falsely that our “needs” and “wants” are identical.
- At the beginning of their marriages, newlyweds sometimes want what has taken their parents 30-40 years to acquire.
- Everyone (not just new parents) must examine the difference between “needs” and “wants’” otherwise, we may be indebted to creditors for years to come.
- Because most Americans “live beyond their means,” two phenomena afflict modern society — EXHAUSTION and WORK-AHOLISM.
- Some parents work 12-hour shifts, e.g. nurses. A 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday workday leaves parents so “spent” that rising for 6 a.m. Mass (if one is in their vicinity) seems impossible. (In the future diocesan planning, parishes might schedule several Masses in a given area at a later hour on Saturday or Sunday, e.g. 7:30 or 8 p.m. Maybe Catholic Hospitals could give employees “time off” on Sunday to attend Mass locally.)
- Single-parent families have an even harder time dealing with the above issues.
- Although not ideal, parents as a family could participate in a weekday evening Mass (if offered).
- In our marriage (and seminary!) preparation, parishes (seminaries) could offer a six-week program on finances from a Catholic viewpoint, which “Our Sunday Visitor” publishes.
The above situations in the lives of our young parents and other parishioners is simply a REALITY the Church must deal with today.
Perhaps this listing has provided us with an “examination of conscience” regarding participating (not just attending) weekend Mass. Next week, we will present how children’s multiple “extracurricular events” affect their participation in weekend Mass and general parish involvement, along with other concerns.