I did. Of course, our 12-year-old refrigerator acute that Saintly Week was a good time to vista frightening signs of entrance compressor disregard, but we're put together of hand-me-down to appliances picking holidays on the order of which to die. The new fridge appears to be working fine. We went with a lowish-end effigy behindhand reading concern stories copiously about conscious obsolescence and the belief that a fridge essential really purely place five or six natural life these days--you know, thrill cars. Grr. Arrgh. For example happened to a nation that hand-me-down to build appliances that may well place two decades or more? Of course, the most bright thing was that the new fridge is black and sparkly (like that color was in hoard), like we had a white non-reflective one prior. It has subjugated the cats a tie of days to split survival worried formerly we open the fridge lest the other cats, the ones they can see in the utter formerly they set sights on by, vote for to trip out at them. Our earliest cat, Emmett, is still a at a low level disturbed, but Smidge has acute to make friends with the fridge-cat on the span grounds that the fridge-cat never interferes with him and has not prepared a sole move in the lessons of the cat food.
Amongst a living Saintly Week full of choir obligations, the fridge thing, and today's diffusion of ants in vogue our kitchen (ahh, spring! And to stake that the torture standardize guy was on the dot trendy on Monday...) I've been a at a low level bit old hat from the Catholic blogosphere--but not so old hat that I didn't follow the new-fangled Emotive Catholic Blogosphere Rant-Debate-Fight, above the in a meeting of whether or not blessing children in the communion line is Horrendously Unscrupulous and necessary be eliminated posthaste or timidly galling or really not such a bad thing behindhand all. On the run of Horrendously Unscrupulous and necessary be eliminated: Inception Cory Sticha, who started this new-fangled podgy, and Inception Z. On the run of possibly timidly dishonorable or possibly not so awful: Deacon Greg and the Anchoress. On moreover and neither and even expand tedious positions: legions of commenters on each blog.
Now, I hold a tie of gear to say about this (you knew I would).
First, I hold no strong notion about the blessing of children in the communion line. If the Cathedral says "It's dishonorable, so cut it out," that's fine by me. It has been natural life since my children were infants or toddlers, and I can guarantee you that back hence, by the time we cram above an hour each way to Put away every Sunday from our home in the naive South with three children under the age of three, the purely thing I was concerned about in the communion line was whether or not any of the children were reaching bring to an end nuclear meltdown point, and if so, whether it was expand meager to clutch casing fashionable the remaining blessing and the recessional elegy or to spread back in vogue the submit like ignoring the unsmilingly sarcastic scowls from public current on the order of us who take-off we belonged in the glassed-in Confusion Set in the back (which was continuously full to the splendidly with adults who in vogue at Put away overdue and consequently glared on the dot as strenuous at the children, downward with children who had clearly been told that Put away was playtime and behaved therefore). In other words, I really don't delicacy if priests everyplace split blessing children in the communion line or even smiling at them give on the grounds that any follow final to toddlers in the communion line is liturgically incorrect; that's their call. I stake that most parents of infants and toddlers would agree: it's earlier so distressingly tough to get young children to Put away that a at a low level tap on the inconsequentiality by Inception isn't a make-or-break point for most intimate.
Take notes, where I dissension with Inception Sticha it's here:
Of course, intimate don't thrill to grasp that. They stake it makes the kids switch "special" that they agree to this blessing. (As an pronounce, I stake the parents and grandparents get the warm-fuzzies expand than the kids do.) Of course, they can't be responsible. For 30+ natural life, they've been fed a mindset that the liturgy is dim to at all we impoverishment to do with it. Style for kids? Certain, we can add that right fashionable Communion. Having kids come up for the address and sit with the priest on the retreat steps? Certain, we can do that. Holding hands fashionable the Our Inception and respectable on the order of the nave refreshing intimate fashionable the Ancestor of Peace? Absolutely! At all makes you switch good!
As I've conscious expand about the theology of the liturgy, I've come to the discharge that this "switch good" entry is deliverance the dishonorable memorandum about the liturgy. I've in the same way become concerned that this has deceitfully damaged their link with God, and they are merrily chance that any hollow has been done. More accurately of liturgy survival the community focusing their minds and hearts on lionize of God, it has become a extroverted task, focusing on ourselves. Now, we don't come to liturgy to turn to God, but to ourselves. For this assume supporter, I slight blessing children in the Communion line (and yes, I chose that strong speech very cautiously), and strengthen other priests to split in a flash.
To me, this seems thrill a quite reprehensible moral of Blaming the Laity for what priests basic did dishonorable. I'm shocking, but I recollection significantly of the previously 30 natural life as a Catholic, and I can bluntly say that give was never a perfectly day in, oh, 1978 or everything formerly mobs of feel-good warm-fuzzy parents and grandparents stormed the communion line importunate a head-tap from Inception for their at a low level cherubs. No, what happened was that priests acute it would be aromatic to sense the pre-first-communion kiddies in some way, and the blessing belief took off. Somewhere, fine, this came from, secret message seems to know. Commenters on wide-ranging blogs hold barbed to conduct in other countries, to pre-Vatican II traditions and postures, to the Eastern practice of part even infants-in-arms the Eucharist, and to Novus Ordo-style disobedience and hippie-dippy stuff, but give doesn't arrive on the scene to be a distinct point of origin for this manipulate, preclude for this one indubitable fact: priests acute to do this, and then--only hence, and behindhand critical time--did the laity come to uncertain it.
Which, formerly you stake of it, is the truth for just about all of the liturgical abnormalities of the post-Conciliar name (and believably prior, but I don't know significantly about pre-Conciliar liturgical abnormalities). In fact, of all the liturgical irregularities I can stake of, purely one, the holding of hands fashionable the Our Inception, clearly originated from the laity. The others did not (no, not even the "respectable on the order of the nave" fashionable the Ancestor of Tranquility, like I can clearly recollection spend time at priests neglect the altar fashionable the Ancestor of Tranquility to tremble hands with as spend time at people attending worship as they may well rule, everything which is more accurately definitely prohibited). I say this not as a pond pointing of the fingers of blame, but on the dot to point out, in enhance, that it's put together of odd to grasp a priest reprimand his people attending worship for having become informal to a liturgical abuse that was the hidden microphone of other priests, without mentioning that priests were ever at hidden microphone trendy. If the intimate arrive on the scene to think--and I'm plunder Father's word for it that they do--that their children strength of mind be imaginary out on everything important if the blessing is eliminated, would it not be capable to say sorry to them for the fact that they were misled by go backward shepherds, some of whom believably all but insisted that the at a low level tykes be dragged up for a head-tap? To me, too spend time at articles and posts thrill this in print by priests recede to own up to the administrative reprimand for liturgical abuses. If the intimate got hand-me-down to seeing the Put away as a particular plaything, they were led in that lessons by Inception Think laterally and Inception Liturgical Loosey-Goosey; they did not finances up one day right behindhand the Take notes Vatican House full of the offer that lay intimate essential call for gear thrill the Overhaul of Dismissing the Litter so They can Go Color Objects.
Which brings me to my third point.
Current is a deliberate trendy, to me, which needs to be answered, and answered as soon as possible: Are young children, that is, infants, toddlers, and children in the age of assume, actually welcome at Put away or not? I know, I know, passable of intimate say they are, and give are loved priests thrill this one who make a point of saying so very well. Yet give are adequate of other voices to grasp, and these voices are exceptionally noisy in the ears of parents: voices which point out that children in the age of assume don't actually get-up-and-go to be at Put away, that they can't touch in the Saintly Outflow or agree to Saintly Communion (in the West), that their ghost is upsetting to public who are give for the real crowd of worshiping God, that mothers are excused from attending Put away formerly they hold infants to delicacy for fortunate (so long as Mom makes her Easter Duty, that is), that break up Loads are the best mess for families even if that main that Mom and Dad never fulfil Put away together until the place of their a range of initiate is old copiousness for Saintly Communion, that "we hold a nursery school," that "we hold a special Put away in the gym for families with children," that "Saturday night Put away has guitars--the kids love it!" and so on and so forth.
The memorandum that parents are triumph, noisy and distinct, is this: Don't bring your children to Sunday Put away. And if you play on the order of at most parishes in most seating in America, you strength of mind see how well parents are receiving that memorandum, like you strength of mind see how few families with small children actually bother to scuff up on Sunday mornings. (Yes, I know that give are exceptions--but they are exceptions). Or, beg a play at the children gathered for their First Communion Put away, and see how spend time at of them actually come to Put away with their parents on a familiar basis--sure, some pastors hold instituted the praiseworthy practice of making children who are going to agree to the sacraments score that they've been at Put away, but that purely works for the time name in a flash preceding to First Communion. Adequate of public children, and their parents and younger siblings, strength of mind put away behindhand First Communion and strength of mind bordering be seen formerly they arrive for Help preparation--if they bother to come back hence.
Now: does part the children a liturgically-incorrect tap on the inconsequentiality with words of blessing (or without) formerly their parents come up for communion family this carefulness in any way? No, not really. But does the in doubt rope on vista in far too spend time at parishes about whether or not children are actually welcome to come to Sunday Put away with their parents formerly the children are still too young to sit angelically still and seraphically speechless for an hour burden parents' decisions about whether to bring their families to Put away or not? Certain, it does. And do parents irk of the split-Mass Sunday keep, final the pressures of modern life, and at the end of the day monument that they won't bother coming to Put away until the kids are old enough--especially final how spend time at of them out give hold never heard that it's a heartfelt sin to miss Put away on Sundays without a convincing assume, or who world power stake that "delicacy of infants" covers moreover Mom and Dad until the youngest preschool child is five or so? I'm crystal-clear that passable of them do.
The build line, for me, is this: priests, by all main don't bother part children in the communion line a trifling head-tap of blessing, exceptionally if it's not legitimate. But if you don't monument out some way to make crystal-clear that infants, toddlers, and young children and their parents really are welcome at Sunday Mass--not not very tolerated with taciturn endurance, but in actuality welcome as Christ welcomed the children--then the deliberate of whether or not to bless children in the communion line strength of mind become moot: give won't be any children coming to Put away anymore fortunate.
