Wailing and Gnashing of Tooth

We live in a wonderful suburb and have a wonderful parish. There are so many young families, who seem to be making a concerted effort to raise the national population growth rate. Our priest is fond of saying that the average age of our parish is 2. He often makes a point to saying how grateful parishoners should be to have children around, because this is precisely where kids should be and applauds moms who are willing to make sacrifices to bring them.

I read this post at six in the city about taking her children to mass and not exactly being welcomed with opened arms because of some noise. It broke my heart, but also makes me much more aware that I am so abundantly blessed.

Dash is cutting his second tooth today. Yikes! He was not a happy camper as we headed to mass, and by the homily was screaming his head off. We actually went outside, not just to the back, but outside the entire building. As I was trying to determine just how I was going to quell the shrieking for a few precious seconds to receive commumion, a mom (with 3 kids of her own) came outside and asked to hold Dash so that I could go in for communion. Overwhelmed with gratitude, I accepted. While we did not exactly make a quiet exit, I was surprised and thrilled that someone had remembered that we were outside and came to our aid. Perhaps others have shown her the same generosity when her children were little. And hopefully I can do the same when my little ones are older.

It is good for children to be at mass, to be around priests, to visit the Blessed Sacrament. If we the parents don't take them, who will? And we should do what can to lend a hand to those who could use it!