Baptism during Mass

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chuckhunter said:
Our Priest says Infants can be baptized at the Mass their parents attend. Hopefully, this is not True.
If True, would like nice arguments against such a Distraction, pls!
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why would this be a problem for you?
yes the ordinary context for the sacraments of initiation is during Mass. Baptism should be done during a regular Sunday Mass, or if necessary a special Mass if there are a very large number of infants, and of course adults at the Easter Vigil.

why would this be a distraction for you to join in the celebration of a sacrament, welcome new Catholics to the Church, who are being baptized for that reason? sounds like Remedial Sacraments and Mass 101 is indicated contact your diocesan or parish adult ed dept.
 
chuckhunter said:
Traditionally, Baptisms are done on a Saturday which allows time for the family to take photos, etc. Baptism during Sun Mass takes up to one Rosary and Chaplet of D.M., about 17 minutes. I come to Mass to Adore God and NOT participate in a communal thinge. It is absurd to have Baptism during Mass b/c it is Distracting from the PRIMARY REASON for coming to Sun Mass; .
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see my reply to OP about the Remedial course in the meaning of the sacraments and their relation to Mass and the Eucharist, and the apt explanation of the canonical and liturgical reasons given by previous posters. Mass is not your private quiet time with the Lord, it is the community celebration of the Paschal event, and Baptism properly takes place in the context of the regular Sunday celebration (if it can’t be at Easter) for that reason, because it is participation in the Paschal Mystery and initiation to that mystery.

get over it

separate baptisms outside Mass on Saturday morning are a poor substitute for the full liturgical rite within Mass. also there is no such thing as private baptism in the Catholic Church. Every baptism even if only one infant is being received and only her family are present, is a communal public celebration.
 
No matter what everyone’s personal opinions may be on this matter, the Rite of Baptism is pretty clear on the subject:
On Sunday, baptism may be celebrated even during Mass, so that the entire community may be present and the relationship between baptism and eucharist may be clearly seen; **but this should not be done too often. **(emphasis added)
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Hence, it shouldn’t be parish policy that all(or even most) baptisms are celebrated during Mass.

An alternative might be to have one Sunday Mass per month to have baptisms done. Our parish requires parents to attend a baptism-prep class prior to the actual baptism, where the Sacrament is explained, and the duties/obligations of the parents and godparents.
 
muledog said:
No matter what everyone’s personal opinions may be on this matter, the Rite of Baptism is pretty clear on the subject:

Hence, it shouldn’t be parish policy that all(or even most) baptisms are celebrated during Mass.

An alternative might be to have one Sunday Mass per month to have baptisms done. Our parish requires parents to attend a baptism-prep class prior to the actual baptism, where the Sacrament is explained, and the duties/obligations of the parents and godparents.
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In my old Paulist parish in Austin, we used to have Baptisms celebrated during the 9AM Sunday Mass. This would happen once a month (except during Lent). The idea was that the child was supposed to be welcomed in front of the entire Christian community. Now, from what I understand, Pope John Paul II began the custom of having infant baptisms during the Solemntiy of the Baptism of the Lord.

I can fully understand the logic behind having Baptisms occur both during the Mass and outside the Holy Sacrifice. Inasmuch as the sacrament is a communal nature because the child is welcomed into the entire Church, the sacrament is also very much a sacrament that also involves the family, as well. There are, perhaps, some instances, where privacy may be the rule of thumb. Let’s say a famous Catholic is having his child baptized and such an event would cause more of a media frenzy than would be practical if the event were at a Mass. Then, I can certainliy see the need for a special ceremony apart from the Mass, or, if the family has a special situation. Clearly, not all situations are a one-size fits all. That is why there are options.

But, to take the stand of the OP and be mortified that baptisms should even happen during the Mass is plain wrong. If Pope Benedict can do them within the Holy Sacrifice, and he is the Supreme Pontiff, then, they are certainly allowable. He is not going to go against the Church. He is the Pope, after all.
 
chuckhunter said:
Traditionally, Baptisms are done on a Saturday which allows time for the family to take photos, etc. Baptism during Sun Mass takes up to one Rosary and Chaplet of D.M., about 17 minutes. I come to Mass to Adore God and NOT participate in a communal thinge. It is absurd to have Baptism during Mass b/c it is Distracting from the PRIMARY REASON for coming to Sun Mass; My children do not need any more reasons to be distracted and resent going to church; There are a good handful of us like-minded who resent being Distracted; Having the Mass-time extended; There are NO photo ops when a Baptism is performed during a Mass. The priest cannot hold the child for a photo b/c he must return to the Service…
If a priest is too lazy to do it on a SAT, pls announce or have a certain time of the month to Baptize or the Easter Vigil, etc. so we who object can attend a Mass that is wholly devoted to God.
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Who do you think is actually acting in the Sacrament of Baptism?

GOD!

All the Sacraments are actions of Christ Himself, working through His Church (all the Faithful united by Baptism).
 
I do NOT believe that the Mass is about/for my so-called “private time w/ God.” I come to Mass to Adore God along w/ my fellow Sinners, in the vertical aspect of our religion. Our community is because of the One Presence–our partaking of the Real Presence—NOT because more than one of us happens to be at the Mass that Sunday. Forget community b/c such is achieved b/c of His Body & Blood being parken–not b/c of our merely being together and certainly not b/c of another Sacrament being adminstered during Mass. Interrupting the Mass for Baptism is Distracting b/c one participating in one Sacrament must Suspend THAT participation for another Sacrament THEN pick up the train of thought; prayer; participation, etc for the original Sacrament, the Mass.
  • our priest ( feels guilty?) b/c he administers Baptism very hurriedly (mercifully!!). Its a very new thing in our parish and since he’s leaving maybe we’ll go back to Saturday baptisms.
 
I am 51 years old, and have never heard of Saturday baptisms being “traditional”. There were baptisms apart from Mass in the parishes where I grew up on Sunday afternoons, but those stopped in the late 1970s. As it happens, I was baptized on a weeknight, and two of my siblings on a weekday.

It is not a matter of being lazy. The Mass, as puzzleannie so explains, is the nautral setting for baptism. That baby is becoming part of the Catholic Christian community. I just wish the Latin Rite would also chrismate them and commune the little sweeties as well.

Besides, with only one priest in most parishes, Father has to help out with sick calls, all the parish meetings, etc. Not every parish has deacons, or another priest with whom to rotate duties.

Having had children baptized after Mass, and during Mass, I’ll take Mass. I have to say, I enjoyed having people I didn’t know coo over my children. Older ladies like to sit up front and see the babies baptized, look at the gowns, etc. There was still plenty of time for photos and the like, and there was certainly time for our brunch after, even though it was Mother’s Day.
 
chuckhunter said:
Interrupting the Mass for Baptism is Distracting b/c one participating in one Sacrament must Suspend THAT participation for another Sacrament THEN pick up the train of thought; prayer; participation, etc for the original Sacrament, the Mass.
  • our priest ( feels guilty?) b/c he administers Baptism very hurriedly (mercifully!!). Its a very new thing in our parish and since he’s leaving maybe we’ll go back to Saturday baptisms.
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Do you feel the same way about Confirmation? What about an Ordination? Marriage?
 
chuckhunter said:
I do NOT believe that the Mass is about/for my so-called “private time w/ God.” I come to Mass to Adore God along w/ my fellow Sinners, in the vertical aspect of our religion. Our community is because of the One Presence–our partaking of the Real Presence—NOT because more than one of us happens to be at the Mass that Sunday. Forget community b/c such is achieved b/c of His Body & Blood being parken–not b/c of our merely being together and certainly not b/c of another Sacrament being adminstered during Mass. Interrupting the Mass for Baptism is Distracting b/c one participating in one Sacrament must Suspend THAT participation for another Sacrament THEN pick up the train of thought; prayer; participation, etc for the original Sacrament, the Mass.
  • our priest ( feels guilty?) b/c he administers Baptism very hurriedly (mercifully!!). Its a very new thing in our parish and since he’s leaving maybe we’ll go back to Saturday baptisms.
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Hold your fire, there, Rifelman, you will not find a more stronger proponent for the vertical element of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass than me. Just ask those on these forums with whom I’ve crossed swords. However, the Church makes provisions for the conjoining of different sacrements within the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Have you not ever assisted at the Easter Vigil where you have Baptism and Confirmation happening during the context of the Mass? How about a wedding where one of the spouses was also baptized and received First Holy Communion?

With the exception of the Sacraments of Penance and the Annointing of the Sick, the Sacraments aren’t meant to happen in a vaccuum; although, as in the case of Baptism and Matrimony, they can (and sometimes do) occur outside the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And remember, it is not the community acting here when the sacrament is confected. It is God who is the actor. We are the recipient.
 
benedictgal said:
Hold your fire, there, Rifelman, you will not find a more stronger proponent for the vertical element of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass than me.
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Except for me 😃

Seriously though…perhaps The OP should look into having private masses said for himself to attend alone.Or put on horse blinders to avoid looking at others…that way you can avoid being distracted in your own little shell.

If it were not for “community” you wouldn’t know who Jesus Christ was.
 
THurifer2 said:
Except for me 😃

Seriously though…perhaps The OP should look into having private masses said for himself to attend alone.Or put on horse blinders to avoid looking at others…that way you can avoid being distracted in your own little shell.

If it were not for “community” you wouldn’t know who Jesus Christ was.
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This is one of your best posts ever - and one I can wholly agree with.
 
chuckhunter said:
Traditionally, Baptisms are done on a Saturday which allows time for the family to take photos, etc. Baptism during Sun Mass takes up to one Rosary and Chaplet of D.M., about 17 minutes. I come to Mass to Adore God and NOT participate in a communal thinge. It is absurd to have Baptism during Mass b/c it is Distracting from the PRIMARY REASON for coming to Sun Mass; My children do not need any more reasons to be distracted and resent going to church; There are a good handful of us like-minded who resent being Distracted; Having the Mass-time extended; There are NO photo ops when a Baptism is performed during a Mass. The priest cannot hold the child for a photo b/c he must return to the Service…
If a priest is too lazy to do it on a SAT, pls announce or have a certain time of the month to Baptize or the Easter Vigil, etc. so we who object can attend a Mass that is wholly devoted to God.
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You don’t even know what the mass is about. This post proves that.
 
benedictgal said:
I think it’s going to snow in Laredo, PaixGioiaAmor, you and I are actually agreeing on something.😃
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Ha, well I have a suspicion that you and I - and others on this board - aren’t actually as far apart in philosophy as you may sometimes think.
 
The meaning of Mass is exemplified in the Sacrament of Baptism in that God and the Church are welcoming new members home to the mystical Body of Christ, a community. Anytime our family is present at a Sunday morning baptism (a pretty regular event at our large parish), we feel blest and privledged to have witnessed such a beautiful and holy event. That’s what it is all about. Saying baptism is a distraction at Mass is akin to saying the same thing about the bride’s presence at a wedding. I think someone is missing the point… 🙂
 
I’ve got to admit, I’ve been surprised many times by certain positions taken on these Boards, but this OP tops 'em all.

Well, we certainly are a Church that encompasses all kinds of folks…
 
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