Children Are a Blessing

By Sarah Reinhard
Catholic Online

Every once in a while, though I really do believe this statement, I need to be reminded of just what it means. This morning as I was driving along, I switched on the radio and a song reminded me and made me think of so many ways in which my life is better because of my daughter. It reminded me that she was a gift, not a given.

In my role as "unnamed parish secretary," I often speak with women in all walks of life. Some of them are young mothers, and they bemoan the noisiness, rowdiness, and general childishness of their children at Mass. These women feel keenly the weight of their child's cry in the silence of the consecration and any look they get, whether intended to be sympathetic or scathing, is a blow to their egos.

Some women have older children, early to late teens, and they have a different set of concerns altogether. Though their children are quiet during Mass, how can they keep it interesting, exciting, relevant? How do they protect their children from falling away?

And then there are the parish grandmas, those special angels who not only offer to watch my daughter (rescue her from my clutches, as it were), but who give me the encouragement that I need, telling me that the cries they don't hear are the babies talking to the angels, that they say a prayer when a child fusses, and that the looks are, indeed, intended to be sympathetic and supportive.

In these groupings, there's a glaring absence, one close to my heart. What about the women who long for a child, who would give anything for a child, who feel keenly the absence of a weight on their shoulder? What about the families who will not have children in them?

And we can't forget the families that await children, the to-be mothers (whether pregnant or just not with child yet) who are impacted by the actions of those with children. I remember those nine months of preparation, when I couldn't help but look around me at Mass and see the many children who were there. Whether I wanted to or not, I was taking notes on what was going on. The biggest impact was the simple presence of children at Mass. Their noises remind the assembly that children are not quiet and that we all started out as infants. Do they distract us? Well, yes. But I have found that the distraction of an infant, whether mine or one down the pew, is far less than the jumble and clanging in my own head. Shoving children off into a cry room under the heading "they distract us" is an excuse that fails to recall Jesus' own words, "Bring the children to me." In fact, Jesus called us - and continues to call us - to be like children.

I can't blame Jesus for wanting the children to come. I wonder if anyone else showed him the same welcome that the passel of kids did. Picture them running across the lawn to him, arms open wide, preparing themselves for the leap into his open arms. And if we are to be like children, we must ask ourselves: do we have the same excitement, the same fervor, the same simple joy when we are going to meet Jesus? Do we see Jesus in our daily life and neglect to jump up and down?

Children are a blessing, for the lessons they teach us, and for the way in which they make us complete as the Body of Christ.

Contact

Sarah Reinhard
http://snoringscholar.blogspot.com/2006/06/children-are-blessing.html OH, US
Sarah Reinhard - Author, 614 5063200

Email

sarahreinhard@gmail.com

Keywords

children, motherhood

More Catholic PRWire

Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »

A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain

Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul

A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell

My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz

Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell

Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online

Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online

Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online

State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online

Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online

2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online

Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online

Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online

Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online

Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online

Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online

Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online

Full Circle
Robert Gieb

Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite

Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony

Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell

World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online

Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA

Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online

A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe

Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly

Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard

The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely

Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow

A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow

Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea

Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard

Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol

Edging God Out
Paul Sposite

Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow

George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online

Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell

Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey

Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite

Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol

Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol

Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online

Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online

Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online

Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online

Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online

Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online

Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »