Suffer the children.
Crying.
Talking really, really loud.
Screaming and yelling, perhaps just to listen to their own echo in the towering space.
At Mass, the gentleman behind me commented to his wife that kids like that should be removed from church. He was rather irritated.
All I could think about was the children raped and murdered by ISIS and perverts. Children abused by cold hearted men. My imagination was flooded with images of dissected infant body parts. I wondered how a baby must scream with pain as it's tiny, beating heart is removed. I couldn't stop thinking of how countless little children suffer from the horror of terrorism, abortion, infanticide, sexual abuse and murder. I was happy the babies and toddlers were at Mass - I was grateful for them - for making me aware of their presence. I pray for them. I was consoled knowing their parents love them so much and keep them so close and safe, throughout Mass.
Never despise the little ones.
Never wish them away.
They are unsettled at Mass to remind us of the Lamb sacrificed ... to remind us of the little ones who are silenced and slaughtered - no one wants to hear their cries either.
They have no one to mourn for them, no one to cry out for them, no one to defend them.
Start hearing, start listening. Let their cries pierce your heart.
Start seeing the little ones.
Do not despise them.
Suffer them.
Protect them.
Defend them.
Save them.
Addressing parents whose children had been baptized in the last year, Pope Francis said “…children cry, they are noisy, they don’t stop moving. But it really irritates me when I see a child crying in church and someone says they must go out. God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be kicked out of church.” - CNA
When we lose our contraceptive mentality then children will be more welcome. However, screaming children do need to be taken to another room to quiet down.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Removing a child from the environment it's screaming in, will actually help calm it. The parent rises and so does the child. Sometimes this distraction is just enough to defuse them. A little loving and quiet makes a difference. We aren't removing them for the sake of those around us; we are removing them for their own little sakes. They are upset and it doesn't matter where they are to them, they are just upset. Calming them is the loving thing to do.
DeleteI can see doing that sometimes - but the kids I hear aren't really throwing tantrums. Sometimes they fall or hit their head I suppose and burst into tears - that really tugs at my heart. Some are just chatty or just learning pretend talk. To me it's delightful. I recall M. Angelica discussing how she once saw the Child Jesus playing on the altar steps - running up and down - I found that charming and think of that when I hear or see mischievous little kids at Mass.
DeleteAh ! Terry ! you make my heart ache. thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. ;)
DeleteThank you, Terry, this made me want to cry. I hardly ever hear the kids. To me they are like the birds on a tropical island. What a tragedy it would be for a tropical island to have no birds. How sad I am when I'm in a church with no children.
ReplyDeleteI like that - thanks.
DeleteThe funniest small child thing on the way to 8am Mass one day was parents carrying toddlers and the mom telling the little boy that the dinosaurs (which he carried) must be quiet during Mass. But why Mommy?
ReplyDeleteThat's very cute. See - it's the dinosaurs who are the noisy ones.
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