Years ago my future-wife and I were given the option to attend a one-time, full day, pre-cana class on a Saturday, which we opted for.
It was taught by a married lay couple. They talked about balancing a check book for the first half hour. Then, all they talked about was natural birth control; about how they used to practice artificial birth control but had now gone natural and how to do it.
After two hours of this crap, I politely told them, at a break, that my fiance and I were not interested in birth control and I asked if they would they be talking about anything else. They said, “No”. I then asked if we could then be excused. They said they would not give us pre-cana credit if we left.
We then sat through 7-1/2 more hours of natural birth control movies and lectures.
No priest or deacon ever addressed the class.
As far as baptismal classes, I can understand a one-time class for newlywed first-time parents maybe OK (but this is what should have already been taught in an orthodox pre-cana class).
But when subsequent classes are required for the baptism of subsequent children, I consider it child abuse.
The abuse being the Church is delaying the essential baptism required for the salvation of those newborns, even after seeing the couple in Church, with their older children, at Mass every Sunday.
To sum, it up: I think their both jokes.
Sorry for the rant.
No, that’s OK. That’s not a rant, that’s just an honest reaction to what sounds like a very irksome imposition on the part of the parish.
Plus, I hadn’t thought of Baptism classes happening after the baby is born, thus delaying the baptism by weeks or months. I’d thought maybe the classes were offered for expectant couples.
If somebody had insisted on delaying my newborn son’s baptism in this way, I’m pretty sure I would
have baptized him myself.