Crying Children and the Sacrifice of the Mass

I came across this blog post from a priest and thought it was absolutely wonderful. I'll post an excerpt, but I recommend going to the link and read the whole thing!

It is not uncommon today for parents to feel awkward about bringing young children to Mass. If, when they are in the church, the toddlers or infants begin to fuss and cry, the parents often struggle to quiet their little ones before other parishioners become annoyed. Many parishes now have cry-rooms to segregate these noisy kids from the rest of the Christian community. For me, as a priest, the sound of crying children calls to mind the mystery of the sacrifice of the Mass. Children, crying at church Happily, many parishioners and priests recognize that the sound of young children is the sound of the future of the Church. What a joy it is to hear children at Mass! If the Church is pro-life, how can we possibly be upset by the presence of an infant? And, if any should respond that he would be happy to welcome quiet babies but not noisy ones, I reply that his love is a matter of words only, since quiet babies hardly exist. In any case, we must love the child in our midst, not merely the “perfect” child who exists only in our mind.