What would you do...

[ukok]

I'd sneak the kid off to a priest or baptize him myself...

God Bless.

 

[ukok]

hmmm...I don't think a priest (or one worth is collar) would baptize an infant if he knew for a fact they wouldn't be raised in a Christian home. So I would have to say that I would probably not. I would just pray. But that's a very thought provoking question, and I haven't read through the thread yet, as I just noticed it.

Michelle

I agree that the priest should probably choose not to baptise under these curcumstances Would you be tempted to do it yourself Michelle, if you were in a similar predicament ?

God Bless.

 

[Miss Shelby]

You mean, and I am asking so that you will re vamp this for me...if it's a case of a mentally challenged child or an under privledged under educated child? I'm too lazy to go back and read through it,, PLEASE forgive me, dear one.

Michelle

 

[Miss Shelby]

I don't know. Wouldn't baptizing them leave someone with the responsibility of rearing them Christian?

It just seems to me, and I could be TOTALLY off base, but that if they were baptized Christian they'd have to have some chance of someone instilling Christianity to them. If they absorb more atheistic beliefs being baptized Christian and then have no Christian role model, then what?

IN the case of mentally disabled, I don't know. But undereducated and too young don't seem like extenuating circumstances to me.

I think the only way I would do it is if it were a life or death situation. Am I understanding you correctly? Am I making any sense at all? I feel like I am missing something here.

Michelle

 

[Metanoia02]

If i sang out of tune...

Start over :Hypothetical...

what would you do if you had the opportunity to baptise a member (s) of your family that would otherwise (probably) never be baptised..because the parent's of said family members were atheist and would not baptise their children..would you be tempted to do so yourself, and would you tell the parent's and risk losing the relationship with them by doing so...or would you just pray for the unbaptised family member and offer it to God, trusting in His Merciful kindness ?


God Bless.

I remember the first time you asked a hypothetical type question, you ended up Catholic!

 

[Jamme]

I like Jukesk9's idea - but in this day and age one can get into trouble for sneaking children away from their parents.

So I suggest wait for summer, throw a big garden party, invite said children and a few priests, and make sure there is a paddling pool nearby.

More seriously - I don't know whether there is any point in baptism when they will not be able to grow in the faith at home - but neither am I sure of the theological / scriptural basis for this, so I'll leave quietly right now... where's my coat..?

 

[Miss Shelby]

Okay.... now it's slowly dawning on me... my tendancy to hit and run will be the death of me.

It's a member of your extended family? I don't know. Like everyone else, I would be sorely tempted. If I did, I would make sure I was a completely active part of their lives forevermore though, which I am sure goes without saying in your case.

But, it's a difficult question. I don't know.

Michelle

 

[ukok]

I remember the first time you asked a hypothetical type question, you ended up Catholic!

My dear friend, i do rather have a tendency to do stuff like that, don't i

..and to think, i'd spent 1 1/2 years before my initial inquiries here, battling to get my daughter into the local Catholic High School, and it hadn't even dawned on me that the Lord was calling me to the Church myself! I'm so dense sometimes!

It's wonderful friends like you and Tom and Michelle and Brent and Aaron and many others here that fast forwarded me into Catholicism, and I thank the Lord for all of you and for the part that you played in bringing my conversion to fruition 's for all of you

God Bless.

 

[ukok]

You mean, and I am asking so that you will re vamp this for me...if it's a case of a mentally challenged child or an under privledged under educated child? I'm too lazy to go back and read through it,, PLEASE forgive me, dear one.

Michelle

Michelle, there is very little for which i could not forgive you, you are too adorable a human being, not to

One of the children has Down's Syndrome (severe), the other child is 7 and both are being raised, i fear, to be cynical about just about everything in the world

God Bless.

 

[ukok]

Okay.... now it's slowly dawning on me... my tendancy to hit and run will be the death of me.

It's a member of your extended family? I don't know. Like everyone else, I would be sorely tempted. If I did, I would make sure I was a completely active part of their lives forevermore though, which I am sure goes without saying in your case.

But, it's a difficult question. I don't know.

Michelle

Spot on

My nephew and niece, to be more precise.

I tend to agree, and it is because i couldn't play an active part in their lives - because they live quite far away and there are other 'issues', that i could not in good conscience baptise them..although having said that, the sense of 'urgency' and heartfelt good wishes for the children to be baptised lead me to believe that if i'd had them unsupervised, (they were here for a family party), we might just have had a trip to the bathroom sink!

Thanks for your responses Michelle, i appreciate your input as always.

God Bless.

 

[Miss Shelby]

Spot on

My nephew and niece, to be more precise.

I tend to agree, and it is because i couldn't play an active part in their lives - because they live quite far away and there are other 'issues', that i could not in good conscience baptise them..although having said that, the sense of 'urgency' and heartfelt good wishes for the children to be baptised lead me to believe that if i'd had them unsupervised, (they were here for a family party), we might just have had a trip to the bathroom sink!

Thanks for your responses Michelle, i appreciate your input as always.

God Bless.

Oh ukok, I can't imagine what that must feel like. I will keep your niece and nephew in my daily intentions forever. God bless you.

Michelle

 

[ukok]

Oh ukok, I can't imagine what that must feel like. I will keep your niece and nephew in my daily intentions forever. God bless you.

Michelle

you can't know how much that means to me, i most sincerely appreciate it

God Bless

 

[Wiffey]

I am eternally grateful to my grandmother, who Baptized me on the sly without my mother's approval. My mother left the Church prior to my birth and later converted to Judaism (she is now a Unitarian: long story!). My grandmother was afraid that I'd never be Baptized since my Mom had no intention of doing so and made it clear that she would not raise me to be a Christian.

My grandmother first baptized me at home (in the tub I think), then secretly made arrangements and had me Baptized officially by a priest at St.Brendan's in Miami when I was a year old. My mother was REALLY mad when she found out, but by that time it was a done deal.

My mother remarried, converted to Judaism and my Dad adopted me. I attended Hebrew school and went to synagogue every week. But I was always curious about my grandmother's rosary and statue of St. Barbara etc. My grandmother did surreptitiously teach me a few things, but passed away when I was 10. She left me her statue of St.Barbara. Not too much later I found out that I had been baptized Catholic as an infant. It planted a seed!

As a teenager I looked into the Catholic Church. My mother was upset, but I did start meeting with a priest and received my first Communion in my mid teens.

I have gone though some tough spiritual trials along the way. But I am always drawn back to Christ. I believe that by baptizing me, my grandmother set me on a Christian course. She had no reason to believe that I would be a Christian. But I am a believing Orthodox Christian raising my daughter in the Faith. It may sound weird, but I truly believe that if I had not been baptized and that seed planted, I'd be attending a Reform Synagogue instead of receiving Christ's most precious body and blood in the Eucharist.

My grandmother's brave act and her prayers changed the trajectory of my life (and my child's). I am eternally grateful and pray for the blessed repose of her soul. She was loving and strong enough to battle my mother for my salvation. May her memory be eternal!

(PS: her St.Barbara statue is still in my bedroom.)

 

[ukok]

I am eternally grateful to my grandmother, who Baptized me on the sly without my mother's approval. My mother left the Church prior to my birth and later converted to Judaism (she is now a Unitarian: long story!). My grandmother was afraid that I'd never be Baptized since my Mom had no intention of doing so and made it clear that she would not raise me to be a Christian.

My grandmother first baptized me at home (in the tub I think), then secretly made arrangements and had me Baptized officially by a priest at St.Brendan's in Miami when I was a year old. My mother was REALLY mad when she found out, but by that time it was a done deal.

My mother remarried, converted to Judaism and my Dad adopted me. I attended Hebrew school and went to synagogue every week. But I was always curious about my grandmother's rosary and statue of St. Barbara etc. My grandmother did surreptitiously teach me a few things, but passed away when I was 10. She left me her statue of St.Barbara. Not too much later I found out that I had been baptized Catholic as an infant. It planted a seed!

As a teenager I looked into the Catholic Church. My mother was upset, but I did start meeting with a priest and received my first Communion in my mid teens.

I have gone though some tough spiritual trials along the way. But I am always drawn back to Christ. I believe that by baptizing me, my grandmother set me on a Christian course. She had no reason to believe that I would be a Christian. But I am a believing Orthodox Christian raising my daughter in the Faith. It may sound weird, but I truly believe that if I had not been baptized and that seed planted, I'd be attending a Reform Synagogue instead of receiving Christ's most precious body and blood in the Eucharist.

My grandmother's brave act and her prayers changed the trajectory of my life (and my child's). I am eternally grateful and pray for the blessed repose of her soul. She was loving and strong enough to battle my mother for my salvation. May her memory be eternal!

(PS: her St.Barbara statue is still in my bedroom.)

Wow, thanks for that, Wiffey

Your story put's an entirely different spin on the whole topic! I hadn't thought of it from that perspective, and it's very interesting and refreshing to read your contribution, it has given me something to think about, for sure, thank you very much

God Bless.