There are three Sacraments of Initiation by which the believer affirms his or her faith in God, and in which the Lord responds by sharing grace which builds on our human response and enables our fullest response. These three are Baptism; Confirmation and Eucharist.

These Sacraments closely combine to bring us, the faithful of Christ, to his full stature and to enable us to carry out the mission of the entire people of God in the Church and in the world.

The norm for understanding the Sacraments is that of an adult coming to faith, and choosing to live that faith in the communion of the Church. The nature on which grace builds is that adult faith.

From the earliest days, however, some adult Christians have wanted to initiate their children, even infants, to the sacramental life of the Church. This requires a rethinking of what the Sacraments build on and how they led the recipients into the life of faith.

Fundamentally the baptism of infants cannot rely on the faith of the infants -for they cannot give profession to it, nor can we otherwise demonstrate its presence. And so, as is quite clear in the rite of Baptism of Infants they are baptised on the basis of the faith of their parent(s). And it is then the role of the parents, in the first place, to help the children grow and develop so that they grow towards the faith of the Church and in relationship with Jesus Christ. By the time they are of an age to celebrate Confirmation and make their first Holy Communion they can profess their own faith - albeit as children, but now at the age of reason. They  have ahead of them yet the journey toward developing an adult faith but it can be trusted that the soil has been well prepared. The parish offers support to parents in supporting their children as they prepare for these sacraments to complete the initiation begun at Baptism.

That journey will likely be much more difficult and may never be attempted if children receive the Sacraments but are not actively helped by their parent(s) to grow in the faith of the Church, and learn to live in the communion of the Church and with Christ. If parents are in this situation and do not wish to change things for themselves, in order to be better able to provide for their child, they may do better by not having the sacraments ministered to the child. For a child to be 'sacramentalised' without having the opportunity to grow in Catholic faith and life can effectively prevent them establishing healthy foundations for such life in the future. 

That said, many parents do find that the birth of a child begins to awaken a desire for faith in themselves, and bringing their child up in the active practice of faith serve as a path to a deeper faith and new way of living for themselves.

• If parents do find themselves in this sort of situation they may find it helpful to speak with Fr Allen, to explore things further. A friendly chat may help parents make their choice more comfortably and confidently.