At the very beginning of Mass, there's a neat welcome ritual where the priest prays for Kaden, and during the entire prayer, the babe staring at our pastor intently. Then, just as Fr Stan says "this Sign of the Cross will claim you for Christ" (I may be paraphrasing, but that's the gist of it), Kaden breaks out into a HUGE grin! He kept smiling as we (parents & godparents) also traced the cross on his forehead.
Kaden was remarkably well-behaved during the Mass. A few squawks here and there, but no major fussing. Though his vigorous kicking did untie his shoes, he didn't manage to kick them off.
And yes, he did cry when Fr Stan poured the water over his forehead. But he stopped after being toweled off and held upright!
There were so many cool things about the day, I'm not sure I can really convey how moved Jim and I were. Let me start by saying our parish community is AWESOME! We had a bunch of people who were excited to see the little one baptized- a few folks even went to church 2x that weekend because they had to be at another mass (for ministry or an intention) but wanted to see Kaden too. Fr. Stan is great at welcoming our friends visiting from other churches. Oh, and his homily! Earlier in the week, Jim had joked that as the father of the child-to-be-baptized, didn't that mean he had to approve the homily? or maybe he should just write it out for the pastor? So Fr Stan starts his homily by TELLING THE ENTIRE CHURCH this... then continues to say something along these lines: "Jim, you've already been preaching by the loving way you care for Kristi and your new son. Keep on homilizing, buddy." All the various parts of the ceremony- the welcome, the prayers of protection from evil, the sprinkling rite, the anointing, the prayers over the parents- all of them were moving in different ways, and Jim and I each found ourselves with tears in our eyes at least once!
The Church also provided Coffee & Donuts free of charge that day, so everyone could go and visit with us in the parish hall. Our family added a cake (thanks Publix) and fruit salad (thanks Steve), so it was a really festive time- even without the balloons I forgot to put up! So many people came over to say hello and congratulations and hold/bless/touch Kaden. He was a good sport, too, lasting about a half hour before falling asleep again!
Later in the day, we had a family friend bbq at a local park. It was a great time, though a little hot. By the time we got the camera out, I had taken Kaden out of his cute onesie to try to keep him cool! We also misted him down a few times, and SOME folks put ice down my shirt! I have no idea why...
Thanks for your prayers for our baby! May he grow into a faithful man with a strong and gentle heart!
2 comments:
What a doll! God bless him :)
Such a special day- God Bless Kaden! It's great that you had such support from your family, friends and community. And I know what you mean about getting a bit teary...I felt the same way. I also felt that way the first time I took Michael (and Liam) to church. I kind of felt like I was presenting him to God...sounds a little over the top, right? The feeling took me by surprise but I think it was a moment of just feeling truly blessed! Great pictures too- he is so sweet :)
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