Cliff Baxter expresses his horror at the way some people
so filled with religious fervour not only show little compassion for those
who have lost unbaptized children, but portray a merciless, Legislative
God still brewing over our original sin.
I am not sure what the Church is going to do about a small group of fervent
ratbags who claim that they are the 'true Church' and the rest are dissidents.
This 'tail' that is wagging the dog will reach into the dustbins of ecclesial
history to mock all the modern Popes or misquote them in order to further
their strange, unhealthy back-to-the-future vision.
No moth-eaten philosophy or discredited belief will escape their attention.
It will be dragged from the attic and paraded with considerable acclaim.
Dare not to accept their latest polemic? Then you are a dissident, disloyal
to the 'magisterium'. What is the magisterium? What they believe and promote.
It is difficult to describe these people because they proclaim themselves
as 'loyal' yet they can deny a bishop, an archbishop, even a Pope without
turning a hair.
This leads me to the subject of their promotion of the notion that unbaptized
children, including the stillborn, are denied the Beatific vision of God.
No matter that ordinary, sensible thinking people immediately raises
the objection that this is a rather merciless imagining of the Creator.
Forget that Limbo was never part of the Church's doctrine, but an attempt
to explain that if baptism obtains salvation, what about those who died
before it?
The we-know-better-than-you-dissidents school will find somewhere in
the backwaters of Catholicism an advocate for their cause.
In the case of Limbo they have discovered Father Brian W. Harrison, O.S.
Father Harrison was unsuccessful in obtaining ordination in Australia,
but went to Puerto Rico to become a priest, later going to Rome.
Rome in its wisdom sent him back to Puerto Rico, where he now rejoices
in the title of Associate Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic
University of Puerto Rico.
Harrison rejects the idea that Limbo was only a hypothesis. For him it
is a central teaching.
In an article published in 'Seattle Catholic' on 7 December 2005 Harrison
pours forth his defence of Limbo, adding that abandoning it would mean
parents would become even more lax about having their children baptized
promptly after birth.
So baptism is some kind of 'magic' to appease an angry divinity still
brewing over our original sin? How do we baptize aborted children, or
the still born, or those who die suddenly and inexplicably?
Father Harrison sticks to his guns. No commonsense coming out of Rome
is going to turn him from his path.
It's worth reading his full diatribe at: www.seattlecatholic.com/a051207.html
After reading it, one wonders what kind of theological training they
are getting in Puerto Rico.
One is also not surprised that 'Seattle Catholic' is not affiliated with
the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Rather than engaging in the kind of waffle that Harrison markets, the
Archdiocese is doing something practical for grieving parents by establishing
a Garden of Innocence for them and their lost children.
This would seem to me to be the perfect response for the heartless conjecture
of people like Father Harrison and others in the Church's tail.
This is what the archdiocese has to say...
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A newly created and dedicated "Garden
of Innocence" at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Federal Way is meant
as a comforting place for all who mourn the loss of a child. Photo
Linda Thomas.
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Let
the children come to me
FEDERAL WAY
By Linda Thomas
Four months into her pregnancy, a local woman was in
a car accident and had a miscarriage.
We had so many plans. My husband was remodeling the basement so we could
have a bigger play area for the baby,” said the woman, who did not
want her name used. “The basement is finished but I don’t
even go down there. It still hurts too much.”
She continues to mourn the loss of her unborn child more than two years
after the accident.
One of the greatest sorrows for any parent who loses a child is to think
that all the dreams they had for the child died with the child,”
said Father Thomas Vandenberg, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in
Federal Way. “Because of our faith, that’s not exactly true.
Dreams don’t die, they change.”
Father Vandenberg dedicated the new “Garden of Innocence”
on parish grounds recently, while a dramatic version of the song “Somewhere
Over the Rainbow” played in the background.
The memorial area is meant to be a comforting place for all who mourn
the loss of a child – whether from miscarriage, still-birth, abortion,
sudden infant death syndrome, or illness.
Birth of the garden
The Knights of Columbus planted a seed for the project several years ago.
They originally wanted to create a “shrine to the unborn.”
From there the idea grew to become a more encompassing place for all parents
who’ve lost a child. It is a place for grandparents and others who
are grieving any loss.
“I had a funeral last winter for a 73-year-old man and his 103-year-old
mother was there,” Father Vandenberg recalled. “No matter
what the age, it’s not right for a parent to bury a child. It’s
out of the natural order of things.”
After everyone agreed on the concept for the memorial, another year or
so went by until they could find a visual image to go along with the project.
One day Father Vandenberg glanced up at a picture in his home office of
a child resting in the hand of God.
“It’s tender, compassionate, serene, and sensitive not only
to the baby but also to those who view it,” he said.
With no artist information on the picture, and no luck finding the image
on the Internet, he turned to Richard Peterson, the director of Associated
Catholic Cemeteries for the Seattle Archdiocese. Through Peterson’s
contacts they found an artist in China who was capable of creating a three
dimensional figure based on the picture. Lee Dongfei’s custom granite
sculpture is the garden’s centerpiece.
The baby depicted in the sculpture could be a boy or a girl. The infant
rests in a large cupped “hand of God,” which looks both strong
and soft. The image is meant to convey the feeling to those who see it
that “the child is okay. The child lives with God.”
The unique sculpture sits on top of a granite block with a verse from
the Gospel of Mark: “Let the children come to me.” There are
plans to add a granite bench in front of the statue, which sits in a newly
planted flower bed.
A garden is symbolic of love, but that doesn’t mean it is a place
only of happiness and peace. “The Garden of Gethsemane was a place
where Jesus experienced his agony and sweat blood,” Father Vandenberg
explained. “Grief and pain are possible because there is so much
love on the other side.”
For innocents and innocence
In researching the garden project, the parish found only one similar memorial
on the East Coast.
People who have seen the garden and statue have positive, moving reactions
to it, A few parishioners are curious about why it is called the “Garden
of Innocence” instead of the “Garden of Innocents.”
The unborn babies and children who “never did anything to deserve
whatever it was that ended their lives” were certainly innocent,
Father Vandenberg said. “Their hearts were in a state of innocence,”
he added. “The word innocence has broader meaning and embraces anyone
who mourns a loss.”
Father Vandenberg’s hope is that all those who are hurting will
find consolation and peace in the Garden of Innocence, including women
who’ve had abortions and now live with guilt and grief because of
their decisions.
This is a place of grace for those who carry sorrow in their heart for
a child lost,” he said. “This is a place where they can dream
again for their child who is resting with God.
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A letter to a baby
Rev. Thomas Vandenberg, pastor of St. Vincent de
Paul Parish in Federal Way, wrote the following letter for the funeral
of a two month old girl. The letter, written to the baby, is reprinted
here with the hope that it might be of comfort to anyone who has
lost a child.
Dear Katie,
I feel a little awkward writing to you because
I am not sure what to say. It is not easy for me to talk to little
babies with words; but, somehow, I believe you will be able to understand.
In fact, none of us here knows exactly what to
say. Our hearts are empty. We open our mouths to speak and nothing
comes out. And when it does, it fails to express what is inside
of us. The tastes of sadness and loss are almost too much to bear.
If you don't know what I am trying to say, it may
be because you never had to experience such sad feelings. The closest
you came was feeling hungry or wet. When you cried, it wasn't long
and someone was there to take care of you. Your feelings were more
ones of feeling good, like when your mother bathed you, or your
daddy held you in his strong arms. You felt the incomparable warmth
and security of their love. You knew the joy of being played with
by your older sisters. You were beginning to feel the excitement
of discovering your world, and it was a good world.
Katie, you weren't old enough to learn about life.
You simply lived it, being totally present to the present moment.
From your perspective, it wasn't long or short. If only we could
share your perspective now. We saw it as too short; way too short.
Of all the things we cling to in life, none is
as precious as life itself when filled with love. Yours was. Granted,
from your vantage point, you may not understand this. After all,
"My life hasn't ended," you say. We believe you, but now
we are the ones who do not understand.
We believe you in faith. In a short time, we would
have told you about God, Our Heavenly Father, and His great love
for you, and how we are all His children. We still believe this
even though we do not understand the cold, stark reality that you
are gone from us. But now you know Our Loving Father from experience.
You know the Love we cannot know until we are with you again.
But we do know that a Loving Father would not take
you away from your loving family; we know he wouldn't will your
death any more than he wills the death of anyone. He is a God of
life who overcomes death. He calls us all to life. In fact, Katie,
we believe that if there were some way God could cry with us now,
He would. His Son, Jesus, wept when His friend died.
God didn't take you away from us. Rather, He is
simply receiving you as a most beautiful gift. As hard as it is
to let you go, we must. And when we do, you will become a gift from
us.
Katie, of all the things we can tell you, only
one thing comes close to saying what we want to say. We love you.
And since you can no longer be with us, we will always love you
during this life until we are with you again.
Keep loving us. We need it very much.
With all our love,
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The Archdiocese of Seattle website article can be found at: www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/Progress/GardenOfInnocence10-19-06.htm
For more on Fr Harrison you might also check out the Wikipedia link at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Harrison.
A Google search also shows many other interesting contributions Fr Harrison
has made over the years to the more conservative religious journals.
Cliff
Cliff Baxter can be contacted at:
Cliff Baxter <cliffbaxter@catholica.com.au>
©2006
Clifford Baxter
[Cliff's Take Archive]
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