By Bishop David Ricken | On Mission
It’s probably not something we think about often. The fact that, even in America today, many babies are discarded shortly after birth.
Thinking about this topic, I thought of what a vortex of confusion that could surround a new mother who may be ill-prepared to welcome a baby. Many women in this situation often do not have the support of the father, family or friends. They feel abandoned, isolated and afraid.
There is hope. Recently, I was fortunate to be able to offer a prayer of blessing for a way forward for moms in crisis: Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Rather than abandoning her child, these baby boxes provide a safe place for a new mom to leave her newborn when she feels she cannot raise the baby.
Facing tough situations, some mothers wind up discarding their child. For decades there has been a movement among pastors in some Third World countries to provide a baby box — a place a baby can be anonymously and safely put into a box for others to securely retrieve. After medical care and assistance is provided, the child can begin the journey to find adoptive parents and a new home.
In January, the first baby box in Northeast Wisconsin [and the fifth in the state] was dedicated during the ceremony. The baby box is fully operational at the Village of Howard’s Fire and Rescue Station. I am so grateful to the Knights of Columbus Duck Creek Council #6279 of St. John the Baptist Parish in Howard for their leadership in funding the baby box, along with support from other councils.
What a beautiful example of members of the Catholic Church working closely with the Village of Howard and Fire and Rescue leadership to enhance the common good and to save the lives of the innocent.
Monica Kelsey, the founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Box, came from Florida for the dedication. She shared her story of being abandoned in 1973 by her mother, who had been a victim of rape. Monica now works tirelessly to provide opportunities for scared mothers to anonymously save the lives of their babies. There are now 306 baby boxes around the country.
Let us all please remember to pray for new mothers in need of help. Let us pray for new fathers to accept their role as a father and to care for the life of the child and mother. As a church and as a society, we can and must seek to be of help to people in this difficult situation. I am so grateful to our diocesan Catholic Charities’ Adoption and Pregnancy Support Services and for all the organizations who assist parents in need.
Please also pray for and elect legislators, State Supreme Court justices and others in public office who support and uphold life from conception until natural death.
This creative solution to the difficult situation of child abandonment brought together the church and the community to work together to save lives. This is a clear way to foster a culture of life. This new baby box is truly a living out of Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live.”