Baptisms during Mass

[rcguy]

Hello,

Has anyone attending church regularly noticed a rise in the number of baptisms taking place during mass? It seems this is a growing trend nowadays to have a baptism during mass as opposed to selecting a time when only relatives and close friends would be present. I can’t help wondering why parents would choose a mass for this and also why priests would accept it as part of their mass. Does it amount to a matter of convenience for everyone involved? This is more than a curiousity and personally, I feel that a public mass is not the time for baptisms. Any and all opinions, views, etc. are welcome concerning this topic. Thank you.

rcguy

 

[Trishie]

Baptism, or a welcoming celebration?

Apart from Easter Vigil Mass, I’ve only once seen a Baptism within Mass …but those present had been invited by the parents.

Our parish custom involves simply the invitation of parents and their children to the front of the congregation, their introduction, the sign of the cross and anointing of the child…this to welcome the child into the community and to ask our support for them; and then Baptism is celebrated at a different and separate time.
This little welcoming ceremony only takes a few minutes and causes no inconvenience.

 

[SMHW]

Well baptism is the way new Christians joint the community. Every new Christian impacts the entire Church and the entire Church has the responsibility to pray for every new Christian. For this reason baptisms should not be private events. Any sacrament is ideally celebrated in the context of a Mass.

It’s true that anything to do with young children tends not to be as solemn as some might like. And baptisms are no exception. I would hardly call any of this a convenience. Baptisms during Mass are usually more “work” for the priest, deacon, and any laypersons in charge of the baptisms.

 

[Phemie]

While our Church has a rite for Baptism ourside of Mass, there’s no such thing in the rite of the Church as a private Baptism. Each and every Baptism is supposed to be a community event. In many communities the easiest way to do that is to have them during Mass and that’s where all of ours take place. We do both immersion and pouring baptisms depending on the parents’ wishes. If they’re unsure of which they’d prefer we set up for immersion.

If baptism at Sunday Mass is difficult for some families, as it sometimes is when dad works out of town, the child will be baptized at a weekday Mass and the choir will come in so that the celebration is as solemn and joyful as it would be on Sunday.

The families are greeted at the back of the Church, they come up in the procession and take their place in the front pews and the baptism takes place after the Intercessions and the Litany of the Saints.

The welcoming of new Christians into the community is a joyful occasion and should be celebrated by the entire community.

 

[kyria]

The welcoming of new Christians into the community is a joyful occasion and should be celebrated by the entire community.

I agree. I thought that was the whole idea with regard to having baptisms during mass. My young daughter loves watching baptisms. Christ said “Let the children come to me” and I think watching children become members of Christ’s church is lovely to witness.

 

[THurifer2]

Hello,

Has anyone attending church regularly noticed a rise in the number of baptisms taking place during mass? It seems this is a growing trend nowadays to have a baptism during mass as opposed to selecting a time when only relatives and close friends would be present. I can’t help wondering why parents would choose a mass for this and also why priests would accept it as part of their mass. Does it amount to a matter of convenience for everyone involved? This is more than a curiousity and personally, I feel that a public mass is not the time for baptisms. Any and all opinions, views, etc. are welcome concerning this topic. Thank you.
rcguy

I find this post very troubling.

Baptism is the washing away of orginial sin as a public act. Jesus’ baptism, although not done during the mass (mass didnt’ exist yet), was done in public in front of dozens (maybe even hundreds) of people.

Why is the world would one not want to include the enitire parish family to witness and asist at a baptism. Not only does baptism wash away original sin it also is a time for the congregation to reflect on their own baptism during the profession of faith.

Lastly when you “assume” it is a matter of convenience for people…perhaps you should ask our Holy Father why he does it durning the Sunday Liturgy. In fact I think that it is encouraged.

Here is the pope doing just what you don’t like.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello,

Has anyone attending church regularly noticed a rise in the number of baptisms taking place during mass? It seems this is a growing trend nowadays to have a baptism during mass as opposed to selecting a time when only relatives and close friends would be present. I uy

I certainly hope so because this is the preferred and normal condition for the rite of baptism, during Mass. the child is being initiated into the entire Christian community, not just to his own family and friends. If someone considers it an “inconvenience” to welcome new members into the Church, they have some serious study to do on the nature of Christian Initiation.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hello,

Has anyone attending church regularly noticed a rise in the number of baptisms taking place during mass? It seems this is a growing trend nowadays to have a baptism during mass as opposed to selecting a time when only relatives and close friends would be present. I can’t help wondering why parents would choose a mass for this and also why priests would accept it as part of their mass. Does it amount to a matter of convenience for everyone involved? This is more than a curiousity and personally, I feel that a public mass is not the time for baptisms. Any and all opinions, views, etc. are welcome concerning this topic. Thank you.

rcguy

It has been the trend for the last 25 or more years. It is not the parents but the Church that pushes for this. Baptism is the Sacrament in which a person becomes a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, The Church. Sacraments are, and always have been, celebrations of the Christian Community.

 

[1ke]

I can’t help wondering why parents would choose a mass for this and also why priests would accept it as part of their mass.

Perhaps because Sacraments are supposed to take place within the Mass.

Does it amount to a matter of convenience for everyone involved?

No. Rather it is a matter of Catholic teaching regarding the Sacraments.

personally, I feel that a public mass is not the time for baptisms. Any and all opinions, views, etc. are welcome concerning this topic. Thank you.

Just the opposite. Sacraments should take place within the Mass. That’s not an “opinion” but rather Catholic theology.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Just my personal opinion.

I love it when the babies are baptized at Mass. It gives the whole parish the opportunity to celebrate this new Catholic and support the family as a whole. The small private between or after Mass baptisms seem to hide the family and the communities joy at this new life.

 

[KAW82]

During Sunday liturgy is actually the ideal time for the sacrament of Baptism to be celebrated as it is when a new member is welcomed into the community. What better way to welcome a new Catholic than with the rest of the church community? My son will (finally) be baptized at the end of next month and I wish we were able to have him receive this special sacrament during Mass. However, due to the parish’s Mass schedule and that there is another Baptism right after Mass as well as other logistics, we aren’t able. But again, during Mass is the ideal setting.

 

[KAW82]

Perhaps because Sacraments are supposed to take place within the Mass.

No. Rather it is a matter of Catholic teaching regarding the Sacraments.

Just the opposite. Sacraments should take place within the Mass. That’s not an “opinion” but rather Catholic theology.

Well said!

 

[Brendan]

Perhaps because Sacraments are supposed to take place within the Mass…

I have yet to hear of a priest hearing Confessions while celebrating Mass

Other than that though, your are correct

 

[Mattapoisett64]

I understand the community aspect and symbolism involved in Baptisms at Mass. However, our parish stopped doing this. We baptize once a month, and there are anywhere from 3 to 8 infants. It became a rushed, assembly-line operation, and the “community” was characterized by lots of throat-clearing, restless, coughing impatience. Because of the time involved it also took the place of any meaningful homily. So the bottom line was that the parents were unhappy at being rushed and deprived of a family moment, they certainly didn’t experience “community,” the “community” was uninvolved, restless, and impatient; and relatives - many of whom typically hadn’t been to church in a while - saw their religious indifference and negative Catholic attitudes justified by a congregation which was so obviously annoyed at the whole business.

Yes, I realize that parish catechesis in this whole area is needed, but as a practical matter we ended up feeling that the sacramental intregrity and “teachable moment” aspects of a separate Baptismal ceremony after Mass made for a far more meaningful experience for all involved.

I’d be really interested to know how other parishes avoided - or solved - this problem.

 

[KAW82]

My former parish used to have Baptisms at Mass. That is, until the new pastor came in and did away with it. (He also prides himself on a 45 minute or less Mass.) The would have Baptisms at any Mass (whichever worked best for the parents) on I believe the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month (or 1st and 3rd). They also gave parents the option to have a separate ceremony if they so chose. I rarely remember having more than 1 Baptism at a Mass and it worked out nicely.

And this was a rather large parish, by the way.

 

[KathleenElsie]

I have yet to hear of a priest hearing Confessions while celebrating Mass

Other than that though, your are correct

Well at the EF we attend there is always a priest in the confessional hearing confessions while another one is celebrating the Mass. So I guess this counts.

 

[THurifer2]

Yes, I realize that parish catechesis in this whole area is needed, but as a practical matter we ended up feeling that the sacramental intregrity and “teachable moment” aspects of a separate Baptismal ceremony after Mass made for a far more meaningful experience for all involved.
I’d be really interested to know how other parishes avoided - or solved - this problem.

Which didnt involve very many

It is not a problem. It is the NORM. Your parish should be doing it

The pope is!!!

 

[peregrinus_WA]

Well at the EF we attend there is always a priest in the confessional hearing confessions while another one is celebrating the Mass. So I guess this counts.

But the one in the confessional is not the one celebrating Mass so it does not count

 

[Phemie]

We’ve had as many as 5 on a given Sunday and I know that last Christmas the parish for which our soon-to-be ex-Pastor has been appointed administrator had 18. At ours there may be a few grumbles here and there but most parishioners are happy to be part of the ceremony. Count among them moms of 8 or 10 kids who never saw their own children baptized.

 

[Mattapoisett64]

Which didnt involve very many

It is not a problem. It is the NORM. Your parish should be doing it

The pope is!!!

What a marvelously unhelpful - if not arrogant - response to a sincerely-asked question.