A Sense of the Sacred

(The Nationalist, 23 May 2003)

 

Consider for a moment that you are a priest, and put yourself in these situations:

You are a hospital chaplain bringing Communion to the sick. As you walk along a corridor, a visitor, seeing you dressed investments and carrying the ciborium containing the Hosts, asks you for Communion on the spot.

A patient surrounded by a large number of visitors chatting with him asks you for Communion; the visitors seem to resent your presence as if you were an intruder on their conversation.

A patient emerging from the toilet, sees you, and comes forward for Communion.

A patient, lying on top of a bed in pyjamas, genitalia exposed through the flap of his trousers, extends a hand for a Host.

I am combining here experiences that I have had in Irish hospitals on different occasions in recent years. What would you do?

What would you do if, during a sacramental ceremony in a church, children climb over the seats and run around screaming, one of them imitating an ambulance klaxon, all unhindered by parental control? You ask the parents to call their children and calm them, so that the ceremony can proceed in an atmosphere of prayer, to the advantage of everyone. But the noise level is so high that, even though you use a public address system, you cannot be heard and your request goes unnoticed, so the noise continues unabated. A man of sixty-something years’ chews gum throughout.

What would you do if, during a baptism, you ask the parents if they are prepared to bring their child up in the faith, and they say yes, though, since you know them, you are aware they have given little indication of practising the faith in any recognizable way? You suspect they have asked for baptism because the grandparents want it. They are unable to join in saying the Our Father. When you know that their older children are growing up in ignorance of the faith, can you take seriously their promise that they will educate this child Christianly? Should you perform the baptism? Who is the more dishonest, the parents who make a promise they show no intention of fulfilling, or you, the priest, in pretending to take their promise seriously by baptizing the child?

The above examples are as factually accurate as I can make them. Any suggestions as to what to do?
[There weren’t any.]