In Defense of Screaming Babies

Eight or nine months ago I was involved in a discussion concerning crying and noisy children in Church. Screaming babies and toddlers annoy the living heck out of me. I would rather chew on tin foil and listen to fingernail dragged against a chalkboard than listen to a screaming child. Still, I disagreed with the position of many who thought the kids should be relegated to a nursery rather than brought to Mass, or at least segregated to a crying room. Here are some of my posts in support of screaming babies:

Crying rooms ought to be banned from Catholic churches.

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a fast, call an assembly; gather the people, notify the congregation; assemble the elders, GATHER THE CHILDREN AND THE INFANT AT THE BREAST…” (Joel 2:16)

“When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him (the new born lord) to Jerusalem to present him before the Lord.” (Luke 2:22)

“People were bringing even infants (Greek: brephos=one in the arms) to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, CALLED THE CHILDREN TO HIMSELF AND SAID SUFFER (Gr. aphiemi=yield up) THE LITTLE CHILDREN (paidos=infant, by exten. half-grown)to come unto me, do not prevent them, for the kingdom belongs to such as these.(Luke 18:15-16)

Why is it we put up with old people whispering loudly at mass? How about a talking old peoples room? How about a poorly dressed and scantily clad room for poorly dressed and scantily clad adults? How about a coughing and wheezing room for the two pack a day smokers?

Here’s another:

You people do know what goes on at Mass right. How our risen Lord is present with the always fresh wounds of his sacrifice? You go to the Mass where He who suffered is present, yet you can’t “suffer the little children?”Jesus, as he carried the cross said to some women “weep not for me but for your children,” Yet you want to be free of children at his Mass? As he laid down upon the cross to receive the nails he forgave those who were about to drive them into his hands, yet you can’t tolerate children who are a handful for their parents? You cant tolerate babies crying as you celebrate the sacrifice of him who endured mocks and insults during his sacrifice? He didn’t do it just for you, you know?

In Corinth the wealthy people couldn’t stand to be with the low class, so they started a schism, holding separate meetings, or at least beginning their worship without the low class. Paul doubts that what they are celebrating is the lord’s supper because of this. Yet you want to segregate the lowest in our Church just so you’re not annoyed? Good Luck come judgment day.

And, of course, I had to do some sarcasm:

“For David did not go up into heaven, but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.’

Therefore, let the whole house of Israel know this for certain…ummm, excuse me, madame! Kindly take that snot-nosed whiny baby out of here. why I can hardly here myself speak of the Lord…know this for certain, that god has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified…Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the Holy Spirit. For this promise has been made to you BUT NOT your grandchildren…(Act 2:34-39, Cranky old people’s edition)

My sister tells me that my infantile presence in Church was less than edifying for my fellow worshipers. Hmmm, I wonder if by “infantile” she meant my presence there as a baby, or my presence there last week.

MAY WITH MARY, DAY 2

from a sermon by St Francis De Sales:

it says that this holy Lady, coming up from the desert flowing with delights (see Song of Songs 8:5), is leaning upon her beloved. This is the last word in all the praises that the Church holily gives to the saints, and above all to the Virgin. For we always refer them to the honor of her Son by whose strength and virtue she ascends to receive the plenitude of delights. Have you not noticed that the Queen of Sheba, in bearing so many precious things to Jerusalem, offered them all to Solomon? Ah, all the saints do the same, and particularly the Virgin. All her perfections, all her virtues, all her happiness are referred, consecrated and dedicated to the glory of her Son, who is their source, their author and finisher (see Heb 12:2). Soli Deo honor et gloria: “To the only God be glory and honor” (1 Tim 1:17). All returns to this point.

If she is holy who has sanctified her if not her Son? If she is saved, who is her Saviour if not her Son? “Leaning upon her beloved:” All her felicity is founded on the mercy of her Son. You would name our Lady a lily of purity and innocence? Yes, she is that in truth. But this lily has its whiteness from the Blood of the Lamb in which she has been purified, like the robes of those who have washed them white in the Blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). If you call her a rose because of her most excellent charity, her color will be only the blood of her Son. If you say that she is a column of smoke, sweet and pleasing (Song of Songs 3:6), Say at once that the fire of this smoke is the charity of her Son; the wood is his cross. In brief, in all and through all she is leaning upon her beloved. (From The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales on Our Lady. An excellent sermon in an excellent book.) I would also recommend his Sermons on Prayer; his Sermons for Lent; his Introduction to the Devout Life; and his book The Catholic Controversy.