Being Creative With the Sacraments

*** the lighting in my house is poor on a good day.  Compound that with torrential rains and cloudy skies and you get dark photos.  Please excuse the first few of these pictures******

" it was one of the best baptisms I've ever seen"

That comment was made by many parents and guests when between the years 1987 and 2004 a priest at our parish allowed the father of the child to pour the water during baptism.  Had the father also said the words there wouldn't have been a problem, but Canon Law 849 states this practice renders the baptism invalid. " the person pouring the water and the person saying the words must be one and the same, who also has the intention to Baptize".

Twenty six years later my daughter received a phone call followed by a letter stating she would need to be re- baptized and confirmed.  Since she is in the middle of marriage prep she was moved to the top of the list!

Sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual graces. Since the beginning of the Church, these rites have been performed with the same ritual all over the world. But when any priest decides to be creative with the rite, it creates havoc, which is what has happened in our parish.  Kind of like letting the father cut the cord at delivery.   Looks good and feels nice, but not really the best thing to do.

So a handful of us gathered this past Saturday ( there are over 200 affected) to begin the process of bestowing these two sacraments again.  It was quiet and holy.  Mary's godparents were present in spirit, but her oldest sister stepped in as the witness. It was an amazing sight to see your daughter you had once held in your arms as water was poured, now lean her own head over the font for another washing of the Holy Spirit. How poised and in control she was of her own choices.

There have been many questions as to why this has to be done again.  After all, the Church states
 " one baptism for all".  We all believe that Mary was baptized as an infant.  We all believe that the Holy Spirit was there and present in the sacrament. But, the Catholic Church does not hold Sacred Scripture as the only authority."Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. Holy Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of Truth, they may faithfully reserve, expound, and spread it abroad by their preaching."   Because of this, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and acceptance.

So, in order for the baptism to be valid, both the Spirit and the Tradition must be followed.  Initially, they were not,  Now they have been!

This post is not about theological debate.  Please don't fill the com box with division.  After reading this, maybe you agree or disagree.  Free will allows that.  But maybe you will take away thoughts that lead you to reexamine your own faith. I trust that to God.

I pray for our parish as they navigate through this problem.  Some have chosen to make issues of it and it has created even more sadness for our pastor.  We accepted it with grace.  Another opportunity for the Holy Spirit to bring our family once more before the foot of the cross.

Witnesses of the Faith

Oh the stories and memories of this group ( and this is only a small part of the original)! Thirty-one years ago Mr. Golfer and I ( second and third from the left) became members of the Family of God Catholic Community in our parish. Yes, we were much younger.  Our second daughter was weeks away from being born. Those you see in the picture were having babies just like us and we all became fast friends.  

Over the next years our children would grow to be fast friends as well.  More babies would arrive and some would be lost.  We were there for each other in either case. Friday nights were FOG nights.  Rotating homes, we gathered for a meal, prayer, music and fun.  Those nights sealed a way of life that continues for us all today.

We are scattered across the country now.  Our children are grown and scattered as well.  But what God ordained as holy then, we have worked hard to keep.  As much as we can, we travel to visit.  Our children, firmly entrenched in the Facebook world, keep in touch.  Even we adults use FB as a medium for interaction.  We still pray for each other and hold close to the binding ties.

When a child gets married ( as happened this past weekend) we do our best to show up!  Another opportunity for that comes in October.  When a member is ill, we rally around.  Some of us have spent many years caring for one another.  Cleaning each other's toilets and bringing more meals than can be counted.

Why?  This is what God's faithful do.  This is love.  This is being Christian and being Catholic. As one member stated yesterday...." And they will know we are Christians by our love...."  This group has walked the journey of faith and we have done our very best to pass it along to our children.  Although they are so dispersed, the reality of living in this same kind of community is slim, but we hope the life of faith they have witnessed is not.

" There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend". Anyone in this group would do just that.

Getting it right.......

Last week on our little getaway, a question came up about Confirmation.  You see, I spent my young life as a Baptist and my friend was Methodist.  We are both converts to The Church and our husbands are cradle Catholics.  We were driving to dinner after Mass when this question came up about when and how we had been confirmed as converts. 

Patsy had a clear story to tell.  She is a stickler for remembering details and dates.  She is amazing!  There is no way my mind stores that kind of data, but then I am convinced I used to be able to until all the stress of the last 13 years took its toil. Ok, I m not getting into that today!

Anyway, the question came to me and all I could remember was that I had gone through a private instruction with the parish priest ( because those were the days prior to any formal RCIA), had been re-baptized ( which to this day causes me great sadness), and  had received my First Communion But for the life of me I could not remember receiving any oil of Confirmation. 

I almost started hyperventilating in the car! They are laughing at me.  My friend even pulls Holy Oil from her purse and Mr. Golfer rubs my forehead!  Me, the one who preaches to my children ( and most others) about doing everything right ( yes, girls I am aware that I dot the i's and cross the t's) was not Confirmed!  Oh no!  I would be the laughing stock of the family and this story would be told for generations!  " Remember when Grandmother found out that she had not been Confirmed and we all thought we were off the hook?"

First thing Monday morning I called the church and made the appropriate inquiry.  I guess I am not the only one who has this question because they were clearly not as worried or excited as I was.  They even had the nerve to tell me it would take about 3 days to get that information ( I am picturing in my mind just opening a file cabinet where all the "old" records are kept and pulling that little certificate out and reassuring me that all was well).  And yes, I have an issue with patience!

So I waited.  On Tuesday I got the call.

If you entered The Catholic Church as a convert prior to RCIA, you received what was called a Profession of Faith that brought you into full communion with The Church.

Only if you are my family will you be aware that I was NOT born in Fort Worth,  I will need to make another call to have that replaced .  And yes, that is my correct birth date.  I know, you thought I was much younger.  Here it all the time!  :)

So it's official!  I'm Catholic!  Fully, All the Way, No Holes Barred, CATHOLIC!  Yes, just a little excited that I don't have to spend a year going through RCIA!

And just a little glimpse of where all those lovely rose petals came from because no post of mine would be complete without flowers.

 

Join me on Monday for Week Ending.  A link up of photos " from Friday though Monday" about your weekend.