SERENDIPITY
TWO THINGS MYSTERIOUSLY COMING TOGETHER
This week two things accidently came together: I wrote about baptism in my weekly column in The Record and the new baptismal font and holy oil case was finally installed in Our Lady of the Woods Chapel at Bellarmine University. The furniture was something that we talked about for years as chaplain there. It was something, before his death, that Dr. Jay McGowan wanted to see done very badly.
The furniture was designed by Tim Schoenbachler, assisted by
myself and fellow campus minister, Melanie Prejean Sullivan.
We wanted it to match the existing chapel furnishings. I believe Tim accomplished that goal quite nicely in his designs. It was built by Bittners of Louisville.
Even though I have had my last regular Mass there, I am still officially the chaplain till July 31.
THE RECORD
"An Encouraging Word"
Rev. Ronald Knott
June 23, 2016
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Let
your “yes” mean “yes.”
James
5:12
I do not celebrate as
many infant baptisms as I used to, but when I do I am still moved by the
experience. It is not wasted on me that the symbols of our baptisms and the
symbols of our funerals are like the bookends of our lives- water, white
garments and candles.
As infants, we are
carried into church to have water poured over us, to be dressed in a white
clothes and to be given a light from the Paschal candle. At our funerals, we are rolled in to have our
caskets sprinkled with water, to have a white pall placed over them and to be
parked at the foot of the Paschal candle. In between those two great events, we
anoint ourselves with holy water each time we enter the church as a reminder of
who we are and where we are destined.
People have their babies
baptized for many reasons - some good and some not so good. Some approach baptism
as if they are having some kind of “magic” ritual performed to protect the baby
from spiritual disaster should anything tragic happen. Others do it simply because it has always been
a family tradition that pleases mom. Most, hopefully, do it because they want
to share their Catholic faith with their children and have their children grow
up practicing that faith.
The words and symbols of
the baptismal ritual are still powerfully moving, no matter how many times I
have celebrated that sacrament. I would
like to mention a few in particular.
The first question parents
are asked is this: “What name have you given your child?” I find it distressing
to hear parents respond with the names of movie stars, the names of planets and
the names of seasons, rather the names of the great heroes of the faith – the
holy men and women that we call “saints.”
The second question asked
is this: “What do you want from the church?” Once they have answered “baptism,”
they are asked a third question – the most serious question of all, the one
that many young parents will lie to your face about! “Will you accept responsibility
for training this child in the practice of the faith?”
Implied in that question
are a series of other questions. “Will you teach them about the faith and be
role models for them through your own example? Will you celebrate the Eucharist weekly and
take these children with you? When the
time comes, will you prepare them for their first communion and first
reconciliation by consciously and faithfully receiving those sacraments yourselves?
There is an old Latin
maxim worth remembering here. “Nemo dat
quod non habet.” “If you don’t have it, you can’t give it.” Infant baptism
makes the most sense when parents are able to answer truthfully and confidently
“yes” to the question, “Will you accept responsibility for bringing this child
up in the practice of the faith?”
