Will everybody wake up!
Do not let the devil catch you sleeping at the wheel!
That's how he managed to hijack our Mass, our Priests, our Sacraments, and everything else we hold dear.
Because the Mass is THE MOST HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS, no one, absolutely no one should be deprived of any opportunity for partaking in this Oblation.
It is the one moment in all of eternity where we, the Church Militant, the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant come together before God to offer up the Most Spotless Victim in propitiation of our sins.
Knowing that, why would you be asking anyone to stay home just so you can partake in silence and "reverence"?
You want silence, go turn off the TV!
The Mass is THE ULTIMATE MOMENT when Good triumphs over evil, the more of us that partake, the greater the triumph!
Crying, cooing, wailing, fussing, itching, scratching, sneezing, coughing, and yes in some cases maybe even snoring - none of these should get in the way. We ought to not only encourage them all to come we should be helping them when they get there!
It's not about you or me it's about defeating the devil!
I have been dealing with this issue for 22 years and, so far 10 children, if I stayed home because of the chance my baby would be fussy at Mass and perhaps upset some people I would have been home for two decades now!
Instead I rejoice at the end of each Mass that we got one over the devil!
A notice to all:
The parent having to deal with the child is the one MOST distracted, distraught, embarrassed, humiliated, distracted, inconvenienced, helpless, overwhelmed, distracted, and at the end of it all - EXHAUSTED! Oh and did I mention distracted?
I beg you all, please, remember why we are there.
p.s. A mother had to bring the Priest to Mass as an infant/child so you would have the privilege today of attending one!
I agree --
For those old codgers that have to have their silence and bury their head in their missal (usually these same men don't like High Masses!), they should turn off the TV more.
One might think that these men don't own a TV, or that they don't watch it. WRONG. If they had more quiet in their life, they wouldn't be so desperate for their "first shot at silence all week" on Sunday morning.
In all my years, I think I've met a handful of Baby Boomers that don't own a TV. I honestly can't think of one at the moment :) I know *many* more TV-less households from the younger generations, including my own. TV is a central part of American suburban middle-class culture, and who do you think invented it? The Baby Boomers.
If they want silence, go to a quiet place inside or outside and read, make a meditation, etc. so you're not starving for silence. If your home is too noisy, do something about it. Turn off the TV and the noise. Put your foot down to your wife and kids if necessary.
Public worship can't replace an individual's separate need for quiet, mental prayer, and all those past the toddler stage of the Spiritual Life should introduce mental prayer (meditation) into their prayer life.
Public worship (Mass) involves responses, gestures, being in common, community, and singing reverent hymns and liturgical music (chant). There is indeed a community aspect to Mass. It's just not the only aspect.
All those things the Novus Ordo says about the Mass -- being the people of God coming together to offer sacrifice -- that's all true! We all unite our hearts, prayers and sacrifices with the priest's sacrifice, and the one Sacrifice of Calvary.
The Priest, in persona Christi, effects Transubstantiation and the making-present-again of the Sacrifice of Calvary -- but it's also true that the congregation is not a mere body of spectators. That's why Catholic Churches don't use terms like "guests", "audience", "crowd", "bleachers", etc.
It's just that the Novus Ordo exaggerates one truth of what the Mass is about, and completely downplays other aspects.
Topic: Children at Mass (Read 15514 times)