We don’t. There are more Catholic-run adoption agencies and pregnancy services such as safe houses than any other kind. Don’t put forth such inflammatory statements. We Catholics do acknowledge that sin has been committed, unlike most of the rest of society, and we don’t celebrate the sin itself. But we don’t shun people who commit sexual sins.
This is a great point. A lot of the proponents of “choice” out there don’t want to have anything to do with helping the woman who decides to *have *her baby. They’ll pay for the abortion, they’ll give her that choice to make her go away and rationalize that they have “sympathy” for her, but they don’t want to deal with what Scrooge called “the surplus population” in any way that might cost them something.We don’t. There are more Catholic-run adoption agencies and pregnancy services such as safe houses than any other kind. Don’t put forth such inflammatory statements. We Catholics do acknowledge that sin has been committed, unlike most of the rest of society, and we don’t celebrate the sin itself. But we don’t shun people who commit sexual sins.
It is a 16 year old having a baby, and the father younger than she is. Don’t make the difficulties of this out to be some kind of a guilt trip, let alone how bad an idea it would be if other 16 year olds ever got the stupid idea that it is no big deal. Ask a 40 year old who went through it at 16. It is a very big deal, and not a “oh for crying out loud, celebrate!” kind of thing. The young woman needs support, but she’s not likely to be throwing confetti herself…not because the baby isn’t a wonderful joy, but because the baby deserves so much that will take everything she has to manage.
Celebrate that a 16 year old girl had sex with and got herself pregnant by a boy who may be 14? I don’t think so! These sorts of things used to happen, but there was shame involved and the young woman would have seen the sense in giving her baby up for adoption to a couple who could provide a stable home. We’ve lost that shame completely and now there are hardly any adoptions - it’s either abort, or keep the baby and try to raise it with the help of parents and welfare. Is anyone better off for this societal shift? Certainly not the children, and probably not the young parents either. And there are many childless couples who cannot find an infant to adopt.
I agree with this post. I worry for the mother who had the baby at 16, because she will have a very tough road ahead of her. But we must pray for her, for she has many different challenges ahead of her, and as Catholics, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, and support them in their time of need.
This.
Beautiful response! Well said!
This sounds too personal for the situation, the daughter of a distant friend. You don’t want to tread on the family’s privacy.
Sick burn.It’s kind of like when people have an ugly baby (and I’ve seen a few). I don’t lie and tell them their baby is cute, but I make sure that I make some genuine and kind comment. “I’m so glad you and the baby are both healthy! He looks just like his daddy!”
I don’t think OP was thinking about giving nasty comments to this girl, I think that considering the age and the circumstances that she felt uncomfortable in sending hugs and well wishes. That doesn’t mean that Op or anyone else wishes ill will towards the situation. Sadly, a 16 year old shouldn’t be having babies and she should do the mature thing and place the baby in adoption to a loving home with 2 parents (male and female).
I think you are looking at it the right way. Things posted on Face Book IMO just tend to go down the secular road so I would avoid that. And if this is a distant friend, posting it on face book makes it look like she is a close friendThe unmarried teenaged daughter of a distant friend just had a baby. She’s 16, the dad is 14 or 15.
Part of me feels the ‘acceptable’ thing to do would be to send well wishes (on Facebook.)
Yet I’m not comfortable doing that. A big part of me thinks we ought not celebrate the same way we would if a new baby is welcomed into a loving, stable, MARRIED family.
Am I looking at this the wrong way? I certainly hope for their good health, and don’t want to put ‘the sin of the father on the head of the son,’ but I can’t do a “group hug” and pretend this is a blessed event.
I’m kind of shocked that everyone’s so unanimous that it’s wrong for the child to be raised by its biological mother. Relinquishing a baby for adoption would be INCREDIBLY hard and I hear it leaves a lifelong wound. Meanwhile the child would wonder, “Did my birth mother not love me? Is that why she gave me up?”
