Church bars severely autistic boy from mass...

[KathleenElsie]

Then perhaps you need to volunteer in the church nursery, or if there isn’t a church nursery, perhaps you should look into starting one. Since you are so perturbed.

We are Catholics. No nursery just cry rooms. The children are expected to be with us.

 

[masondoggy]

Aimee I am sorry if I said anything to hurt you - do know that I would not be afraid to sit next to you and your son and shake his hand. I may give you more room than I normally would others but only because I understand that “personal space” for the autistic tends to be a larger area than for typically developing individuals. If my one post before this on this thread was in any way a tirade (it wasn’t meant to be) I do apologize to you and others who are currently parenting a child with autism - I was trying to point out how I understood what the Priest was saying.

Brenda V.

Same here.

 

[KathleenElsie]

According to what is reported, the priest did not deny the boy entrance to the church. He tried to work with the family and offer solutions, during Mass, to allow the boy access to Mass while protecting other parishioners. The family refused. It was because the family refused to work with the priest that he had to resort to the restraining order as a last resort to protect the community. This is not the boys fault, it is the parents fault. They are the what is keeping this kid from Mass. Not his disability.

Shaking his hand when he gives the sign of the peace. Where was it ever reported that people were refusing to shake his hand? If that was the case, I would equally be outraged. But if I remember correctly, that happened to a poster here in this thread, not to this particular boy.

I had to answer this one. I have nerve damage in my right hand because of someone squeezing toooo hard. This person did not know his strength and broke a couple of bones. So I can understand not wanting to shake hands.

Also, if the young man is having problems with urinating and/or spitting I am not sure I would want to shake his had prior to communion. But, then this is just me.

 

[AHapka]

Since Scripture is getting quoted here, let me quote some Scripture too:

Matthew 12:36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak.”

I think we would all do well to keep that in mind.

I think we all should consider that the Priest had his reasons. No one here has also mentioned that our parish Priest is our religious superior. I don’t always like all of the things my Priest says. I don’t always like all of the penances my Priest gives me in confession. But I do it out of obedience.

However, God expects me to be obedient to my Priest (as my religious superior). There were some saints in the past who were told by God to do such-and-such. When their Priest told them not to, God didn’t say to go against the Priest. God told them to OBEY.

Saint Frances de Sales has said “When God sends His inspirations into a man’s heart, the first one He gives is that of obedience.”

The religious superior of these people (who knows far more about the particulars of the situation then any of us) has told them what to do. The Priest did not order them to sin or do anything contrary to church law. They are obliged to obey him.

That is my opinion.

 

[masondoggy]

Since Scripture is getting quoted here, let me quote some Scripture too:

Matthew 12:36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak.”

I think we would all do well to keep that in mind.

I think we all should consider that the Priest had his reasons. No one here has also mentioned that our parish Priest is our religious superior. I don’t always like all of the things my Priest says. I don’t always like all of the penances my Priest gives me in confession. But I do it out of obedience.

However, God expects me to be obedient to my Priest (as my religious superior). There were some saints in the past who were told by God to do such-and-such. When their Priest told them not to, God didn’t say to go against the Priest. God told them to OBEY.

Saint Frances de Sales has said “When God sends His inspirations into a man’s heart, the first one He gives is that of obedience.”

The religious superior of these people (who knows far more about the particulars of the situation then any of us) has told them what to do. The Priest did not order them to sin or do anything contrary to church law. They are obliged to obey him.

That is my opinion.

Good point.

 

[azgirl]

They are more apt to hurt themselves than others…

I work in special education and this is not true. If they are having a melt down they can hurt someone. A boy this size can be hard to restrain if he is out of control.

 

[nana3]

I think some serious reflection on being charitable is due some posters on this thread.

I agree.

 

[Tietjen]

I don’t have anything against the autistic boy. My beef is with his parents. And I REALLY do not appreciate you questioning my Christianity. You are way out of line.

I agree. Honeysuckle, you do not know the soul of anyone other than yourself. Moreover, as a bystander simply reading these posts, I have found far less charity in your posts than in masondoggy’s. Perhaps you should take a deep breath or maybe take a day or two off from the thread to calm down. Your sarcasm and obvious anger do not help your cause. The fact is that the entire situation is very sad. The child is obviously not to blame, but neither is the Priest. He is doing what is in the best interest of the parish and ALL its members. No one wants the child to be excluded and perhaps if the parents would have accepted some of the priest’s suggestions in the past this whole situation could have been avoided. Nevertheless, the milk is under the bridge now and perhaps all those involved should be looking to finding a permanent solution to this problem. Court orders do not last forever and I seriously doubt that the priest intends to continue to petition the court indefinitely for these orders.

 

[Tietjen]

I rest my case.

Your problem is you, not me for pointing out the problems with your attitude.

Unless of course I am incorrect, and Jesus was actually excluding Adam Race from the least of us when he said those words.

LOL - Talk about a Christian attitude… sheesh.

 

[Tietjen]

Very well said Brend V.

 

[childofmary1143]

I am amazed that this thread hasn’t been shut down.

To everyone here I would suggest that you file a complaint with honeysuckle for obvious reasons. Don’t bother to argue with her, she will never accept what you have to say.

I know I am going to report her.

 

[childofmary1143]

I am amazed that this thread hasn’t been shut down.

To everyone here I would suggest that you file a complaint with honeysuckle for obvious reasons. Don’t bother to argue with her, she will never accept what you have to say.

I know I am going to report her.

 

[Yerusalyim]

Arguing in these forums is like wrestling a pig…everyone gets dirty, but the pig is having fun…

 

[masondoggy]

I am amazed that this thread hasn’t been shut down.

No need to shut it down. I’m not taking the bait anymore. There’s no point.

I do hope this thread can stay open, though, because I think this is a serious story that we, as Catholics, need to follow and see what the results are. So…no more arguing from me.

 

[mercygate]

We are Catholics. No nursery just cry rooms. The children are expected to be with us.

FWIW, if I had a nursing infant or a chatty, restive toddler in a cry room, I would not be thrilled to pieces to be sharing that cramped space with a 225-pound boy who has to be sat on and tied down to be controlled and who cannot control his bladder.

 

[Yerusalyim]

Well then you’re just not showing Christian Charity…that’s Honey’s response. Of course, the family doesn’t also owe Christian Charity to the rest of the congregation…it’s all about them.

 

[masondoggy]

FWIW, if I had a nursing infant or a chatty, restive toddler in a cry room, I would not be thrilled to pieces to be sharing that cramped space with a 225-pound boy who has to be sat on and tied down to be controlled and who cannot control his bladder.

I was thinking the same thing. The cry room just doesn’t seem like a good option unless they attend a Mass that doesn’t usually have a lot of kids. I purposely attend the Sat. vigil Mass at my church with jacob because there aren’t a lot of kids and we usually have the cry room to ourselves (which makes things a lot easier with my active, naughty boy ). But there always is the chance that a parent at any Mass would need to use the cry room and I could see a lot of problems with that.

I wonder if they tried taking him to a daily Mass? I would think that would be less stressful for him and give him the opportunity to go to Mass. The parents could still fulfil their Sunday obligation in shifts on the weekend.

 

[mercygate]

I was thinking the same thing. The cry room just doesn’t seem like a good option unless they attend a Mass that doesn’t usually have a lot of kids. I purposely attend the Sat. vigil Mass at my church with jacob because there aren’t a lot of kids and we usually have the cry room to ourselves (which makes things a lot easier with my active, naughty boy ). But there always is the chance that a parent at any Mass would need to use the cry room and I could see a lot of problems with that.

I wonder if they tried taking him to a daily Mass? I would think that would be less stressful for him and give him the opportunity to go to Mass. The parents could still fulfil their Sunday obligation in shifts on the weekend.

Now that some of the heat is off on this contentious thread, I would like to respond to earlier taunts that people are not doing what Jesus would have done.

Jesus would not be IN this situation because He would heal the boy on the spot. Apparently, healing the boy of his affliction is beyond the competence of the people involved here.

 

[masondoggy]

Now that some of the heat is off on this contentious thread, I would like to respond to earlier taunts that people are not doing what Jesus would have done.

Jesus would not be IN this situation because He would heal the boy on the spot. Apparently, healing the boy of his affliction is beyond the competence of the people involved here.

That’s still a possibility through prayer. We could all join in praying for Jesus to help this boy to be able to function in this world in a meaningful way that benefits him.

I also think if Jesus were in this situation, (agreeing with the previous poster) He would have instructed all the faithful to be obedient to the priest. How many times did He tell St. Faustina that in her diary? Even when it seemed her superiors were doing the wrong thing or didn’t quite understand her or the situation, Jesus consistently instructed her to obey them. That says a lot about what Jesus would do in this situation, imo.

 

[nana3]

I was thinking the same thing. The cry room just doesn’t seem like a good option unless they attend a Mass that doesn’t usually have a lot of kids. I purposely attend the Sat. vigil Mass at my church with jacob because there aren’t a lot of kids and we usually have the cry room to ourselves (which makes things a lot easier with my active, naughty boy ). But there always is the chance that a parent at any Mass would need to use the cry room and I could see a lot of problems with that.

I wonder if they tried taking him to a daily Mass? I would think that would be less stressful for him and give him the opportunity to go to Mass. The parents could still fulfil their Sunday obligation in shifts on the weekend.

From what I heard the priest correspondent of Fox News said that the priest of the parish offered this family the entire cry room. There would be no other kids in there. I could be wrong for I have not read anything on this topic, but only what I heard on Fox News. The correspondent priest said he had talked to that parish priest over the phone and that is what the the parish priest offered the family and they refused.