The Child is All of Us: Gabriel Santorum's Lesson Lives On
Gabriel Santorum's life was too brief a moment, but his impact will be felt for eternity. He continues to testify to the immutable truth that human life is sacred and the child in the womb is all of us.
No one who has sneered their objection to what the Santorums did is actually afraid that they are weird or of unsound judgment. They're afraid that respect for the life of a "fetus" might catch on. They're afraid that a tiny baby's body might be seen as sacred and dignified, and then heaven forbid, the baby himself might be seen as human. Humanity denied to one can easily be denied to any or all.
PrintWASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - I had an incredible job once. For almost two years I worked at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, one of the best children's hospitals in the country. (Think Baby Faye.) I was fortunate enough to be assigned to the Neo-natal Intensive Care and Labor & Delivery units as a resident chaplain. It's one of the largest NICU's in the country, with some of the sickest babies in North America. It's the premiere pediatric heart transplant hospital, and a Level-I trauma center. It is an amazing place.
Life -- and death -- is around every corner at any given moment. As one of the NICU's chaplains, I pretty much saw it all; the most severe birth deformities; the most serious diseases and illnesses; the most tragic circumstances; the most gut-wrenching grief. I was a young, single woman with no children of my own, so I could not even imagine what the parents around me were going through. I did my best every day to simply offer them support, prayers, hope, company, and when the darkest hours came, I learned how to witness their sorrow and not run from it.
I learned how to "sit with the pain" as one of the senior chaplains used to say. Death is a part of life, and as life should be treated with reverence, so can death be handled reverently and humbly. It's not at all easy to stand beside people whose child is dying before your eyes, yet it truly felt like an honor every time I was there for a baby's last breath; even as every heart in the room was breaking open, including mine.
On one such occasion, I was the only person there to cry. A baby boy had been born too soon, and he had multiple serious birth defects, and his shell-shocked parents could not bring themselves to hold him as he died. They asked me if I would. They named him Thomas. I sat in a rocking chair, alone in a surgical room, and cradled this baby as he slowly died in my arms. Thomas had almost no ribcage so I could see his heart clearly beneath his transparent, paper-thin skin. I watched it beat slower and slower, and he never opened his eyes.
For 45 minutes I rocked little Thomas, sang to him, and told him he was loved. I was sad for his parents, not just for losing their son, but for giving up the chance to spend those minutes with him, loving him. Theirs was a double-loss; I so wish I had done more to persuade them not to give in to their fear. I will never forget Thomas, and I will always cherish those 45 minutes. They were holy and a gift to me.
One of the things I did regularly was take pictures for the grieving parents. Many times I would dress the baby in a sweater that volunteers had knitted just for this purpose. A little hat, some booties, a soft blanket, and a beautiful picture was captured. I would also take some soft clay and make footprints or handprints. What a powerful and humbling task it was to press delicate, tiny feet into the clay to make a mold for parents who would never again hold their child.
I held in my own hands perfectly-formed babies who'd died at 16 or 18 weeks of pregnancy and marveled at their beauty. I learned how vital it was for their parents to see them, hold them, name them, and grieve their death the way they would any other member of their family. Indeed, that child was no less a member of the family!
For those who find something morbid or creepy about all the things I've just described, believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. Reverence for the human body, both in life and in death, is healing and elevating, and is one of our better instincts unless it is systematically choked off by an inhumane psychology.
We witnessed the latest evidence of this inhumanity in all the fretting and gasping aimed at Rick and Karen Santorum regarding the death of their infant son, Gabriel.
Isn't it ironic that our culture of death, those who champion abortion and euthanasia, those who see nothing at all questionable about cutting to pieces a tiny child in the womb are so squeamish about actually confronting a natural death? These people are so troubled by a mother and father who choose to embrace their deceased child's body with tenderness, awe, and kisses.
Their lack of reverence for life carries over into a lack of reverence for death.
They find it disturbing that parents would allow his siblings to see, hold, and spend time with their baby brother after his death because their narrative says the child is less than a person; less than fully human; less than you and I. They can't allow the idea to creep into the "mainstream" that a prematurely-born baby is actually a human being with a soul and a body that belongs to him! Gads! What ...
Life -- and death -- is around every corner at any given moment. As one of the NICU's chaplains, I pretty much saw it all; the most severe birth deformities; the most serious diseases and illnesses; the most tragic circumstances; the most gut-wrenching grief. I was a young, single woman with no children of my own, so I could not even imagine what the parents around me were going through. I did my best every day to simply offer them support, prayers, hope, company, and when the darkest hours came, I learned how to witness their sorrow and not run from it.
I learned how to "sit with the pain" as one of the senior chaplains used to say. Death is a part of life, and as life should be treated with reverence, so can death be handled reverently and humbly. It's not at all easy to stand beside people whose child is dying before your eyes, yet it truly felt like an honor every time I was there for a baby's last breath; even as every heart in the room was breaking open, including mine.
On one such occasion, I was the only person there to cry. A baby boy had been born too soon, and he had multiple serious birth defects, and his shell-shocked parents could not bring themselves to hold him as he died. They asked me if I would. They named him Thomas. I sat in a rocking chair, alone in a surgical room, and cradled this baby as he slowly died in my arms. Thomas had almost no ribcage so I could see his heart clearly beneath his transparent, paper-thin skin. I watched it beat slower and slower, and he never opened his eyes.
For 45 minutes I rocked little Thomas, sang to him, and told him he was loved. I was sad for his parents, not just for losing their son, but for giving up the chance to spend those minutes with him, loving him. Theirs was a double-loss; I so wish I had done more to persuade them not to give in to their fear. I will never forget Thomas, and I will always cherish those 45 minutes. They were holy and a gift to me.
One of the things I did regularly was take pictures for the grieving parents. Many times I would dress the baby in a sweater that volunteers had knitted just for this purpose. A little hat, some booties, a soft blanket, and a beautiful picture was captured. I would also take some soft clay and make footprints or handprints. What a powerful and humbling task it was to press delicate, tiny feet into the clay to make a mold for parents who would never again hold their child.
I held in my own hands perfectly-formed babies who'd died at 16 or 18 weeks of pregnancy and marveled at their beauty. I learned how vital it was for their parents to see them, hold them, name them, and grieve their death the way they would any other member of their family. Indeed, that child was no less a member of the family!
For those who find something morbid or creepy about all the things I've just described, believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. Reverence for the human body, both in life and in death, is healing and elevating, and is one of our better instincts unless it is systematically choked off by an inhumane psychology.
We witnessed the latest evidence of this inhumanity in all the fretting and gasping aimed at Rick and Karen Santorum regarding the death of their infant son, Gabriel.
Isn't it ironic that our culture of death, those who champion abortion and euthanasia, those who see nothing at all questionable about cutting to pieces a tiny child in the womb are so squeamish about actually confronting a natural death? These people are so troubled by a mother and father who choose to embrace their deceased child's body with tenderness, awe, and kisses.
Their lack of reverence for life carries over into a lack of reverence for death.
They find it disturbing that parents would allow his siblings to see, hold, and spend time with their baby brother after his death because their narrative says the child is less than a person; less than fully human; less than you and I. They can't allow the idea to creep into the "mainstream" that a prematurely-born baby is actually a human being with a soul and a body that belongs to him! Gads! What ...
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http://bridegroomofmysoul.blogspot.com/2010/10/desecration.html
This Poem 'Desecration' says it all.
What a moving and powerful article. May God abundantly bless the Santorum family.
WOW! To this article and it's responses! This article Needs to Get Out! I personally liked inhumane psychology. Our country is rampant w/it!!! Couple inhumane psychology w/secularists and what do you get? Or, put i.p. w/anything, and the outcome is not good! Jennifer, you get an A+++. Fantastic article. Rick Santorum! Blessings... Newt is smart!
Christ is worth living a for. Christ is the word made flesh. Christ is eternal truth,the way to live a life of grace for the glory of God. Christ is the sacrifice for our sins. The sacrifice is to believe and to even die in the flesh if we have to for God,but more importantly die to ourselves, because by nature we sin and must forsake all sin. Sin must die so that righteousness which is the Christlike Holy Spirit,can live in each of us to guide us all. Sacrifice is to die to ourselves so that we can live in the Holy Spirit,which is obedience to God,as Christ was obedient to death,a death on the cross. Our deaths will all be different. Our personal deaths are our crosses. We can only embrace the cross,in hope,as we embrace Christ,who was obedient to God in every way. "Not my will but thine be done",these are the words of Christ and this is our desired attitude and our sacrifice as Christians. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"! God is LOVE and God is Purity of being,God is the great "I AM". God is the author of life! LOVE GOD unto death and into eternity. Christ is RISEN! Love is THE ETERNAL FACTOR. Hate and selfishness is eternal disaster. Let this be the second part of "a robust discussion". The wafer and the wine that is received as the body and blood of Jesus Christ,is so small but it is so BIG,as it makes all who receive,a part of the one body,who is the head of His Church,the second person of the Holy Trinity,Jesus Christ. Christ was also a human fetus just like the rest of us and that folks is BIG because that is what being PRO LIFE IS ALL ABOUT! PRAISE GOD! The Human fetus is NOT some sort of primitive human sacrifice. Conception is but the first,a sacred state,for a new human being. The womb is like the Church is,a sanctuary. The nursery of the Human Soul in fact is the human body,from conception to a natural death. Life is constantly changing in various stages from fetus to baby,from baby to child,child to adolescent,to young adult,to middle age,to elderly,elderly to death,and finally from death to Life eternal,mature in the life of Christ,hopefully for all who tried to live in a life of Holiness,which is the life of sacrifice. To be Holy is sacrificial in the truest sense of the word. The reward? Eternal life with God,the Life of Eternal Love is Heaven,"The NEW JERUSALEM." GOD IS WATCHING! WATCHING FOR OUR CHOICES! "CHOOSE A BLESSING CHOOSE A CURSE". LIFE IS THE PERFECT CHOICE! GOD IS LIFE NOT DEATH. DEATH IS THE ENEMY,THE FINAL ONE TO BE OVERCOME!
You need to look at yourself, examine yourself. If God is guiding you, then where is your sacrifice ? I keep my ear close to your breast. How close are you to Yaweh ? I keep my ear close to your breast
Mother Teresa said " See the face of Jesus in all that you serve
".Jennifer, your living example speaks to this truth. God bless the Santorums.
Most people thought Jesus' actions were strange and threatening, so is it any wonder that most people think the value his followers place on human life is unusual? As far as I am concerned, the criticism of others, especially the leftist media, is a validation of our humanity and our Christianity.
Very true! Thank you for your articulate words, Jennifer. Yes, you are right! Promoters of abortion must never "humanize" a child in the womb because they will have to admit that it is a human they are killing.
This is a beautiful article with respect for a life. Caring healthcare workers should be touched by this article. Ultrasound demonstrates the sanctity of human life in the womb. It is beautiful and Holy Sacred space. The trouble today is that this is not taught anymore. It was not so long ago.Times are not changing for the better if the sanctity of life is not taught to be respected. Life is what it is wether it is 1 week old or 101 years old as there is no distinction in this. Love is to be given in respect for all life. Life is simply SO PRECIOUS!