It spurred me to read a few more similar posts:
- http://www.katewicker.com/2009/02/harden-not-my-heart.html
- http://www.hobomama.com/2009/02/do-not-hinder-them.html
- http://www.hobomama.com/2010/07/christianitys-effect-on-breastfeeding.html
- http://www.katewicker.com/2010/09/let-little-children-come.html
- http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/why-i-nurse-at-the-mall-and-at-mass.html
What hurts perhaps the most is that I feel more at home in church, sharing in the Mass with my husband, daughter, and friends and family if they're there, than perhaps anywhere else on earth. My fervent prayer is that our baby girl feels the same. How can she feel at home when children are intentionally sidelined into a separate room or are denied their basic needs because it might cause someone else to become uncomfortable?
The church I grew up in didn't have a cry room till I was in college. What possessed them to add it at that point (the church was well over 20 years old) is still beyond me. The parish was young and I relished hearing the baby babbles and little voices asking some really great questions. I'm not talking about 8-year-old kids munching cheerios or playing Gameboys, I mean honest curiosity and just plain vibrancy that small children carry with them everywhere they go.
The priest of our parish when I was little (not the afore mentioned, this one was before I moved as a kid) used to stop what he was doing if he saw a parent stand up to take a crying child out of the sanctuary. "Don't leave! That child's voice is the music of angels!" Oh how I wish all people felt the same!
Now that we have our own little one, I must say we have left the sanctuary with her on a small handful (like less than 5) occassions. Not because she was being disruptive or we were worried about bugging the people next to us so much as because she is WIGGLY and it is much easier to rock those wiggly toes to sleep while standing as opposed to kneeling. We've always stayed within earshot of the sanctuary (or at least a speaker) and have come back to the sanctuary within a few minutes too.
I thought we were doing pretty well with the whole family-celebrating-life-and-Mass-together thing, but we did have a surprising bump on the road. A few weeks ago we (finally!) made it to the States and were able to celebrate our daughter's baptism (yay!). We sat down in the front row, everyone dressed to the hilt and weary sloppy smiles because we were there celebrating Mass as a family and our baby was going to be baptized. Well, everyone was wearing smiles except the baby. She was hungry. So I did what I always do... fed her. Yep. In the front row. In my dress clothes. Without a blanket. What shocked me is that a family member leaned over and insisted, "You can't do that here!" Well would you rather I let the baby scream or shall I run and hide?
If children (with all their sniffles, wiggles, babbles, and all) aren't welcome in church, then why on earth are we there? Jesus says, "Let the children come to me" and by golly I'm pretty sure He means it!
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