Learning our Faith to be Active Parents
There exists a generation of Catholics who are lost. They are lost not because they don’t love God, but because many who should have guided them, failed them.
I have written time and time again about how parents are the principal educators of their children, but it would seem that in this modernistic age, many parents have left their children to fend for themselves. Great importance has been stressed on learning for school and work, but learning how to live, especially learning to live as a Catholic has been neglected.
Quite honestly, I have a loving mother who taught me many things, but when it came to my faith, much was left unsaid. I spent a great deal of time on my own learning my faith, study the catechism, reading on the saints and just getting my hands on anything that could nourish my soul. I was deficient in my knowledge of prayers or even praying, and had a very New Age view of God.
I constantly encounter Catholics who are in the same boat that I was in. The knowledge of their faith was never bestowed upon them, and like me, they are returning to their faith in their 20s and 30s and trying to feed a spiritual hunger. Now, I could go on a tangent and bash churches with weak catechism classes and a multitude of other things, but essentially, much of this comes down to parenting.
I have been writing over the past month about “Being Active Catholic Parents” and protecting our children, and this will only happen when parents actively participate in their child’s life. If a child is left to his/her own devices, they will be swallowed up a culture of relativism and religious indifferentism, but moreover, they will have a misconstrued understanding about the human person and the dignity thereof.
As Catholics, we mustn’t let these errors of poor religious education continue. We must be active participants in what our child learns and this includes catechism classes. Children should not merely be sent to Sunday school and then left to ponder the thoughts on their own. Parents need to explain to their children the lessons and doctrine that they receive from the Church, and should also strive to ensure that the lessons that are being given are ‘orthodox’. Sadly, there are many well meaning catechists who teach errors, and there are some who are progressivists and will teach your child what they believe is the ‘truth’, and not what the Church teaches.
Now, for the Catholic who is just coming back to the faith, it is important that you not be overwhelmed by the faith, and that you understand properly so that you can defend it and teach it to your children. There are many of us who have been confirmation classes and RCIA and still have a very weak knowledge of Catholicism, and that is to be expected, as those are just introductory classes, so it is a good step to actually look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read through areas that you feel that you are weak in. Usually, you will see that teachings in the catechism are supported by many doctrinal and biblical references, so you can look them up online and read a more in-depth interpretation of the teachings. By doing this, you allow yourself to grow in knowledge and will become a better teacher to your children. Also, there are many web sites that can be of assistance, especially EWTN, Catholics Come Home, Catholic Answers to name a few.
Ultimately, parents are supposed to give their children tools for living and without proper religious formation those tools will be ever dull. Therefore, nourish your children so that they may be set on good soil and have deep roots; otherwise, their foundation will be on sand, and the first sign of adversity will tear them from the ground and lead them on the path to worldliness.
12 Myths about Catholicism (Real Catholic TV)
This program is from RealCatholicTV.com
I have written time and time again about how parents are the principal educators of their children, but it would seem that in this modernistic age, many parents have left their children to fend for themselves. Great importance has been stressed on learning for school and work, but learning how to live, especially learning to live as a Catholic has been neglected.
Quite honestly, I have a loving mother who taught me many things, but when it came to my faith, much was left unsaid. I spent a great deal of time on my own learning my faith, study the catechism, reading on the saints and just getting my hands on anything that could nourish my soul. I was deficient in my knowledge of prayers or even praying, and had a very New Age view of God.
I constantly encounter Catholics who are in the same boat that I was in. The knowledge of their faith was never bestowed upon them, and like me, they are returning to their faith in their 20s and 30s and trying to feed a spiritual hunger. Now, I could go on a tangent and bash churches with weak catechism classes and a multitude of other things, but essentially, much of this comes down to parenting.
I have been writing over the past month about “Being Active Catholic Parents” and protecting our children, and this will only happen when parents actively participate in their child’s life. If a child is left to his/her own devices, they will be swallowed up a culture of relativism and religious indifferentism, but moreover, they will have a misconstrued understanding about the human person and the dignity thereof.
As Catholics, we mustn’t let these errors of poor religious education continue. We must be active participants in what our child learns and this includes catechism classes. Children should not merely be sent to Sunday school and then left to ponder the thoughts on their own. Parents need to explain to their children the lessons and doctrine that they receive from the Church, and should also strive to ensure that the lessons that are being given are ‘orthodox’. Sadly, there are many well meaning catechists who teach errors, and there are some who are progressivists and will teach your child what they believe is the ‘truth’, and not what the Church teaches.
Now, for the Catholic who is just coming back to the faith, it is important that you not be overwhelmed by the faith, and that you understand properly so that you can defend it and teach it to your children. There are many of us who have been confirmation classes and RCIA and still have a very weak knowledge of Catholicism, and that is to be expected, as those are just introductory classes, so it is a good step to actually look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read through areas that you feel that you are weak in. Usually, you will see that teachings in the catechism are supported by many doctrinal and biblical references, so you can look them up online and read a more in-depth interpretation of the teachings. By doing this, you allow yourself to grow in knowledge and will become a better teacher to your children. Also, there are many web sites that can be of assistance, especially EWTN, Catholics Come Home, Catholic Answers to name a few.
Ultimately, parents are supposed to give their children tools for living and without proper religious formation those tools will be ever dull. Therefore, nourish your children so that they may be set on good soil and have deep roots; otherwise, their foundation will be on sand, and the first sign of adversity will tear them from the ground and lead them on the path to worldliness.
12 Myths about Catholicism (Real Catholic TV)
This program is from RealCatholicTV.com
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