Infant baptisms in Lent

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I had a niece who was baptized the Sunday before Ash Wednesday in 2007. She died of SIDS a week after Easter 2007. My brother and his wife felt some solace knowing she was baptized. My older niece had a premature baby that she brought home from the hospital about three weeks before Lent. The baby and mother were not up to having a baptism until about a week before Lent and the parish priest was too busy to baptize the baby. Since there are no baptisms during Lent in our parish, my sister and my niece have been excessively worried that my great-nephew may die before he is baptize. I told my sister to baptize the baby herself and then have the proper ceremony after Lent. She said we aren’t supposed to do that any more.

I don’t understand why they don’t have baptisms during lent. I also don’t understand why it is so difficult to get a baby baptized!

Lent is a penetential season and we really should celebrate Baptism, celebration during Lent is opposed to the idea of the season. Nothing prohibits Baptism when it is pastorally necessary, but during Lent the Baptism should take place at a time outside of Mass, with no fan-fare or party.

 

[Galnextdoor]

Lent is a penetential season and we really should celebrate Baptism, celebration during Lent is opposed to the idea of the season. Nothing prohibits Baptism when it is pastorally necessary, but during Lent the Baptism should take place at a time outside of Mass, with no fan-fare or party.

We prefer to have our babies baptized outside of mass in our family. So what option does a person have if the priest refuses to baptize during Lent? Most babies who die from SIDS, die in the first two months of life. A baby who is perfectly healthy can die from SIDS. This weighs heavy on our minds because tomorrow is the second anniversary of my niece’s death. My adult niece is not in good health and is not expected to live much beyond a few more years. She desperately wants her baby baptized. She has been having kidney problems for the last week and a half. As far as we know she is not any danger of dying, but baptism for her baby is something that she can’t get off her mind. Her husband is indifferent to the baby and its religion. She has chosen young godparents for this reason. I wish the baby could be baptized, so she could rest easier.

 

[FrDavid96]

We prefer to have our babies baptized outside of mass in our family. So what option does a person have if the priest refuses to baptize during Lent? Most babies who die from SIDS, die in the first two months of life. A baby who is perfectly healthy can die from SIDS. This weighs heavy on our minds because tomorrow is the second anniversary of my niece’s death. My adult niece is not in good health and is not expected to live much beyond a few more years. She desperately wants her baby baptized. She has been having kidney problems for the last week and a half. As far as we know she is not any danger of dying, but baptism for her baby is something that she can’t get off her mind. Her husband is indifferent to the baby and its religion. She has chosen young godparents for this reason. I wish the baby could be baptized, so she could rest easier.

Pastors cannot “refuse” baptism during Lent. They may encourage the parents to wait until Easter, and they may delay the baptism if there is no founded hope that the child will be raised in the faith, but an outright refusal to do baptisms during Lent is not something a pastor may do.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

We prefer to have our babies baptized outside of mass in our family. So what option does a person have if the priest refuses to baptize during Lent? Most babies who die from SIDS, die in the first two months of life. A baby who is perfectly healthy can die from SIDS. This weighs heavy on our minds because tomorrow is the second anniversary of my niece’s death. My adult niece is not in good health and is not expected to live much beyond a few more years. She desperately wants her baby baptized. She has been having kidney problems for the last week and a half. As far as we know she is not any danger of dying, but baptism for her baby is something that she can’t get off her mind. Her husband is indifferent to the baby and its religion. She has chosen young godparents for this reason. I wish the baby could be baptized, so she could rest easier.

I would try and speak with the pastor one more time then take it to the diocese, and ask the Bishop to step in. He may suggest going to a neighboring parish.

 

[Galnextdoor]

Can someone explain to me what founded hope is exactly? The babies in our families have always been raised Catholic, but why is founded hope so important? Is it just so that there wont be a great number of baptized unchurched Catholics? If so why does it matter if the unchurched have been baptized Catholic? If they aren’t going to church, they aren’t going to church why does it matter that were baptized in hope that somehow they would become Catholic?

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Can someone explain to me what founded hope is exactly? The babies in our families have always been raised Catholic, but why is founded hope so important? Is it just so that there wont be a great number of baptized unchurched Catholics? If so why does it matter if the unchurched have been baptized Catholic? If they aren’t going to church, they aren’t going to church why does it matter that were baptized in hope that somehow they would become Catholic?

Because being Baptized Catholic places a person under the authority of the Catholic Church and her laws with an obligation to follow and practice the Catholic faith.

 

[FrDavid96]

Can someone explain to me what founded hope is exactly?

I’ve always understood it to mean the bare minimum of a reasonable expectation that the child will be raised as a Catholic–ie attend Mass on Sundays, learn about the faith, receive the other Sacraments, be taught to live a Christian lifestyle, etc etc.

The key word, (as I see it) is “hope” not a promise (although that’s part of the baptism ritual, parents who don’t truly have the intention will still answer “yes”), not a certainty, not a guarantee, not even to go so far as an expectation. Hope means just that. However, the qualification “founded” also means that such a hope must be based on some objective reality. If parents come to me for baptism, I always have “hope” that the child will be raised in the faith. Even if I know with certainty that the child will never again see the inside of a church, I still have that hope. But for baptism, the hope must be not only a quality found in the pastor but there must be some basis for believing that such a hope will someday be realized.

The babies in our families have always been raised Catholic, but why is founded hope so important? Is it just so that there wont be a great number of baptized unchurched Catholics? If so why does it matter if the unchurched have been baptized Catholic? If they aren’t going to church, they aren’t going to church why does it matter that were baptized in hope that somehow they would become Catholic?

In addition to what Br Rich has already said, another reason is that the Sacraments are not mere human rituals to be performed for anyone who makes the request. Baptism is entrance into the Church, and if the person will not be a member of the Church in fact as well as in name, then this dilutes the meaning of the Sacrament.

For such persons, baptism should be delayed (never denied but delayed) until such time as the person is actually going to be a participating member of the Church. That might mean a few years or it might mean 50 years. Baptism will always be available when the person is truly prepared to live the reality which the sacrament signifies.