D
dwick299
Guest
I am a 36-year-old man with a wife (36) and three children, ages 8,6, and 20 months. Two years ago, I had a renewed interest in the Catholic faith. My wife (who was baptized into the Mormon faith as a youth) agreed to have our family attend Mass for a few weeks. She began to study about the Catholic faith and became excited about our family of five entering the Catholic faith. Withing a few months our 1st and 2nd graders were attending a Catholic school and preparing to be baptized.
Everything was going great and my three children were scheduled to be baptized this Easter. Last week at Mass, they handed out a bulletin with the names of all of the people that were going to be baptized. My children were not on the list. I was certain this had to be a simple oversight since no one at the school or church had told us there would be a problem with the baptism. I called the Director of Religious Education at our Church and never received a return phone call. I then emailed her and she replied and told me that she had prayed about it and “God has told her that my wife and I were not prepared to be good Catholic parents.” On a side note, we have literally tried to contact this lady at least 20 times to get information about what we needed to do to prepare for the baptism. She NEVER replied. Her excuse, “The email and voice mail were down for a few weeks.”
I could give you many examples of her failure to communicate to us but I can summarize it by saying she refused to talk to us during this process.
We have done everything asked of us during this process. My daughter attends church 5-6 days a week and has attended a Catholic school for the last year-and-a-half. Can they deny my children the sacrament of baptism because the DRE prayed about it and God told her not to baptize them? The priest refuses to talk to me stating that he had consulted with the director of religious education and their decision was final.
You can not imagine the emotions my family has felt this week. We have been betrayed. We have done everything she has asked us to and so much more. My wife and I both volunteer at the school at least one day a week each. We donate to the food pantry every week. We donate to the school and church. Now we are told we have not demonstrated a commitment to the faith and cannot be good Catholic parents.
Everything was going great and my three children were scheduled to be baptized this Easter. Last week at Mass, they handed out a bulletin with the names of all of the people that were going to be baptized. My children were not on the list. I was certain this had to be a simple oversight since no one at the school or church had told us there would be a problem with the baptism. I called the Director of Religious Education at our Church and never received a return phone call. I then emailed her and she replied and told me that she had prayed about it and “God has told her that my wife and I were not prepared to be good Catholic parents.” On a side note, we have literally tried to contact this lady at least 20 times to get information about what we needed to do to prepare for the baptism. She NEVER replied. Her excuse, “The email and voice mail were down for a few weeks.”
I could give you many examples of her failure to communicate to us but I can summarize it by saying she refused to talk to us during this process.
We have done everything asked of us during this process. My daughter attends church 5-6 days a week and has attended a Catholic school for the last year-and-a-half. Can they deny my children the sacrament of baptism because the DRE prayed about it and God told her not to baptize them? The priest refuses to talk to me stating that he had consulted with the director of religious education and their decision was final.
You can not imagine the emotions my family has felt this week. We have been betrayed. We have done everything she has asked us to and so much more. My wife and I both volunteer at the school at least one day a week each. We donate to the food pantry every week. We donate to the school and church. Now we are told we have not demonstrated a commitment to the faith and cannot be good Catholic parents.