LEAVING MASS EARLY: WHY YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER

LEAVING MASS EARLY: WHY YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER

It amazes me how many people rush for the exits before the priest, deacon and servers can even get down the center aisle. Sometimes, I have to pause and wait for people who step out into the aisle and block my way out.

Tradition asks that Mass goers wait at least until the cross of Christ is out the door before leaving the church. I suspect people want to rush out and beat the traffic out of the parking out, but the headlong rush for the exits is actually creating more of a traffic jam than it’s preventing.

Think and pray about waiting just a bit longer before you leave the Church. Perhaps pausing to pray a bit would be a better exit plan.

THE THREE TYPES OF BAPTISM AND CHILDREN LOST BEFORE WATER BAPTISM

We believe that baptism into Christ is essential for salvation. However, many Catholics don’t seem to know that “baptism” is a broader concept than the commonplace water baptism we practice.

Baptism by water is the first, and the ordinary, way in which we are baptized into Christ. We encourage parents to have their children baptized soon. Baptism washes away the stain of original sin; washes away personal sin (though babies, of course, have no personal sin); and, baptism brings the individual into the Church.

Baptism by martyrdom is rare in our day and age, but is still recognized by the Church. A few years ago, Islamic terrorists killed a number of Egyptian Coptic Christian men working in Libya. A non Christian man from sub Sahara African was also taken prisoner. Because he was not a Christian, he was offered a way out of death. However, he chose to die with the Christians, saying, “Their God is my God”. That man was baptized into Christ through shedding his blood for the faith.

Finally, there is baptism by desire/innocence. Sometimes people convert but pass away before baptism can be administered. Also, babies who die before baptism are innocent souls and are presumed baptized into Christ through their innocence.

What about Limbo?, you may ask. Limbo was NEVER official Catholic teaching. We don’t teach it or believe in it.