A Dam has Burst; Apostasy against God

A Dam has Burst;   Apostasy against God

Bad enough that so many families have chosen to push God out of the Church, but to push him away from the children they gave birth to is almost an evil attempt of calling Satan as their god.  

I attended the marriage of a grandson and couldn’t believe the manner in which the ceremony was done.  He had mentioned to his sister that they did not want anything spiritual at the wedding.  So whoever led them in the vows was someone out of a SNL skit and very few people could make heads of tails out of this part of the ceremony.  They did not want even a blessing which I was prepared to give them.

However a couple of months later his wife gave birth to a baby girl and some of us thought there would be another baptism that we could all join in by supporting their choice of a church Sacrament.  Well with nothing spiritual at the wedding who would surmise that now that might change with a new-born.  Of course he told his mother no baptism.  Since neither of the parents have any intention of stepping foot into a church their new-borns will also never know about God or anything that relates to anything spiritual.      

It appears that this decision is not an odd event since far too many families are following the same routine; no more church attendance and no sacramental adherence.  This is apostasy at its most profound action by turning away from Christ and what his Incarnation was all about.

Not surprising today is the fact that very few Christian denominations have a full congregation on a Sunday or even during special days of obligation.  The suggestion that baptizing babies is a necessity has turned away a lot of young families since they have begun to replace church association with baseball, soccer, or anything that removes their attendance with church affiliation and replaces time with Christ by throwing a ball or dancing on a Sunday.  “My child is holy enough since he or she has friends to be with and that’s enough for us.” 

Grandparents are usually the impetus to urge their children to baptize their new-borns.  O yeh!  They are the ones who were obsessed with Church requirements, but we’ve reached the point of growing into a society of getting along without a priest telling us what we should be doing for our souls.

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called.   The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism.  The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were it not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.  (CCC 1250).

Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them.  (CCC 1251).   

Baptism is more than just standing around the baptismal font while water is poured over my child and answering some old fashioned questions; “Do you believe?”

Baptism is the sacrament of faith.  But faith needs the community of believers.  It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe.  The faith required for baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop.  The catechumen or the godparent is asked: “What do you ask of God’s Church?”  The response is: “Faith.”  (CCC 1253)

 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.  Jesus answered Nicodemus:  “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”  (Jn 3: 5).

To those who refuse this sacrament for their children are placing themselves in a precarious situation.  They will have to answer the question of why these children did not receive this expiation from original sin; yet it is the parents who will suffer for their neglect.

Ralph B. Hathaway