Archive for the 'Catholic Men' Category

Small Steps

admin March 31st, 2009

At the end of American Idol tonight (yes, I do watch it with my family), I was met with quite a surprise.  My Fox affiliate in Cincinnati announced that they were not going to air Osbournes: Reloaded in prime time.

WXIX announed that they were going to air the show after midnight on their website.  They did not feel that the show was appropriate to air on prime-time, network TV, especially during the times when families would be watching.

After doing a quick Google search, it looks like that the Panama City affiliate beat my Cincinnati affiliate to the punch.

And, of course, we are already hearing cries of censorship.

All I can say is – bully for WXIX (Cincinnati) and WPGX (Panama City).  It’s about time.

And before the hypocrisy of some gets too loud, let’s remember it’s this crowd that applauds when TV stations routinely refuse to run any program or ad showing the unborn child in the womb.  Let’s also remember that the First Amendment pertains to government censorship, not self-censorship by a corporation or individual.

The bottom line is that, as a father, I spend a great deal of time screening shows to make certain they are appropriate for my kids.  We have picked our Direct TV programming to make sure undue influences from the screen do not add to our already extremely difficult challenge to properly raise our kids in our toxic culture.

It’s nice to know that we finally got some help from the “free” TV that we can’t realistically shut out of our homes.  It’s a small step, but a step in the right direction.  If people really want to watch this programming, there are a hundred other venues for it, but “free” TV at 9:30, following a popular show among the young – no way.

A small step, yes; but it’s about time.

Noah & Our Culture of Death

admin February 19th, 2009

I love the story of Noah, especially the part about the rainbow.  It’s the perfect Old Testament story about redemption, mercy, salvation.  Noah shows us how to live as a real man of God; listening, following, obeying, trusting, not being afraid.

But I often miss key points of Noah’s story, specifically those that come after the flood waters have receded.  These points made by God to Noah (Genesis 9) shed some light on what God must really feel about our culture of death.

“For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting . . . from one man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.”

“For in the image of God has man been made.”

“Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.”

“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you.”

The sanctity of human life is paramount to God and he holds each of us individually accountable.  Why?  Because we have been made in his image.

Yet, we have a prevailing culture that cuts short life in the womb, with some wanting to cut it short at the other end as well.

God wants us to be fertile; yet we short-circuit our fertility, our very ability to allow God to act through us to create life.

God wants us to hold up our side of his covenant with us; yet too many of us want the trappings and pleasures of this world instead.

Unlike Noah, too many refuse to listen, follow, and obey God.  Too many refuse to trust God and not be afraid.  Too many turn our backs on the grace-filled, divine covenant that God seeks to renew with us each and every day, most notably through the Mass and confession.

In today’s gospel (Mark 8), St. Peter proclaims to Jesus, “You are the Christ.”  We cannot proclaim the same if we embrace (or even tolerate) our culture of death.  We must be strong men of God, like Noah, and take personal responsibility for our covenant with God; a covenant that finds a culture of life at its core.

Next time you see a rainbow, remember that God put it there as a sign personally to you; a sign of his love for you; a sign of his covenant with you; a sign that he expects you, yes you, to take personal accountability for promoting a culture of life.

Promoting life may go against the social whims of the time, but do you really think that Noah cared a whit of what the rest of society was saying about him as he went about building the ark?  He trusted God and did his job.  So should we.

Endurance & Birth Defects

admin January 30th, 2009

January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month.

I rarely write about my own birth defects but I’m thinking I better write something about them before this month is out, especially considering that my birth defects and my faith seem to be totally intertwined with each other.

I was born with a cleft lip and cranio-facial birth defects, i.e. the different sides of my skull didn’t exactly form in perfect proportion to each other.  As a result, one side of my face is good to go, the other side has needed a great deal of work.

I have had more surgeries than I can remember; each one exhibiting the marvels of reconstructive medical science.  My conditions are so rare that I was always a must see for interns and residents on their rounds; and I even had photos taken of me for medical textbooks.  To this day, I have a standing appointment for major work with a dentist every decade or so.

My childhood was spent in doctor offices, dentist chairs, hospital beds, operating rooms, and with speech and hearing pathologists.

My sinuses are always a problem.  I need subtitles when I’m watching a movie on TV; and I finally broke down and started bringing a missal to Mass so I could fully “hear” the readings.  My eyesight is such that I can’t bring my eyes together in one single point of sight and my eyes have drastically different levels of vision.  I have little depth perception, so I’m always knocking into things, dropping perfectly thrown passes from my nephew, and losing my golf drives when they fly more than 150 yards off the tee.  I have a speech defect, but am in a field requiring superior communication skills.  I often need people to repeat themselves and they likewise often need me to repeat myself.

I was picked on, ridiculed and bullied as a kid; and rejected by more girls than I care to remember as a teen and college student.  Things got a little better in young adulthood.  To this day, I have people that look at me with THAT look, the one folks reserve for others that look differently than what they have come to expect.

Yet, somewhere along the line, God made me realize that I am the way he chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

I have learned so much about life and about God because of my birth defects.  I have learned so much about others, both good and bad.  I have learned how God expects us to live and treat each other.  I have learned how to be truly grateful.

I am thankful to the doctors and dentists who put my face back together.  I am thankful for the nurses who comforted me when I was a scared little boy in a lonely hospital room in the middle of the night.

I am thankful for my parents, my family, my friends and the girls I’ve dated along the way who all saw through my deformities to the real me.

I am so in love with my wife that it surpasses my understanding.  She fell for and has stayed in love with an incredibly imperfect man, yet she fights for me, she fights for us.  She truly loves me, heart, soul &, yes, body.  She is such a beautiful woman, both inside and out, yet my birth defects have never been an obstacle to her loving me so.

I am so blessed that my parents see me as their son, not a deformed child; my wife sees me as her love, not a deformed man; and my children see me simply as their Daddy, not someone that looks different than others they know.

Actually, it’s been through my children that God has chosen to show me just how much he has blessed me.

My little girl looks like her mother; my son is the mirror image of me.  I have a special affection for my daughter because she is the first blood I have ever known (I am adopted).  But even more profound, I tend to wonder how much of my birth mother is in her.  She looks like my wife; but how much does she also look like my mother?

And then there is my son.  He is perfect in every way.  In him, I see what I could have been, physically.  I look at him and see what I would have looked like without the birth defects.

But, I would haven’t it any other way.  Let me repeat, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For, I am the way God chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

Every time I look in the mirror, I am humbled.  Every time I look upon someone who looks a little differently than others, I empathize.  Every time I see someone going through a hard time or in distress, I am spiritually connected to them.

And every time that I am going through hard times or get discouraged or don’t know where to turn, God reminds me that he is still there for me, that he is guiding me, that he has always guided me throughout all times of my life, both dark and bright.

He reminds me that he has tested me and found me worthy.

Today’s first reading is from Hebrews 10 and the writer hits the nail on the head, “You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.”

My birth defects and being an orphan taught me endurance, both spiritually and physically.  God has a purpose behind everything he does.  He has a purpose for making me the way I am.  There are times when I don’t know why.  There are times when I fall into self-pity.  There are times when people treat me differently because of the way I look.  There are times when I look in the mirror and want to cry.

But, in these times, God ALWAYS brings me back to Him.  He reminds me of his will and his promise to me.

And when I doubt his special plan for me, he sends my wife to kiss me, my kids to jump on my back, and my parents to call me just to see how I am doing and to tell me that they love me.

And he also reminds me that I am a success professionally.  I am an inspiration to others.  I rise above my limitations and do what he expects of me.  I am bearing the fruit he wants from me.  And I must place my total trust in him.

It’s God’s way of telling me that I am the way God chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A Message for All Times

admin January 19th, 2009

I am a huge fan of Martin Luther King, Jr.  His strength, courage, and wisdom; his Christ-centric focus in living his life; his ability to inspire and lead; his hopeful and generous spirit in times of great trial; his ability to change the world; his commitment to doing God’s will; his drive for justice and a “positive peace.”  He is a man from whom all men, no matter their race, should draw inspiration.

Every Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I read one of his speeches or writings.  Today, I decided to read his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (h/t to Michigan State University).  There is just so much incredible wisdom in these words that I need to share some of my personally favorite passages.  These words are just as useful to us today as they were to the Civil Rights Movement in 1963.  Emphasis is mine.

“I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and halftruths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well timed” in view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

“How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of Harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.

“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”

“I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another mans freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro the wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating that absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

“I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all it ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light injustice must be exposed with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion, before it can be cured.

“[T}ime itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in the generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

“I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: “Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

“In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

“There was a time when the church was very powerful — in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.” But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey Gad rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

“Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent — and often even vocal — sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust”

I encourage you to read and re-read the whole thing.  Do so not only in light of our past and modern race relations, but also in light of our present time, especially if you are concerned with the civil rights of the unborn.

And tomorrow, no matter where you fall politically or how you feel about the future, recognize that it is an incredible day for America as one great injustice has finally been redeemed.  And just as Catholics marched hand in hand with Reverend King, now we must work hand in hand to redeem another injustice and do so for the little ones who cannot speak for themselves.

Thirty Years On

admin January 18th, 2009

I envision thirty years from now that I’m taking my grandson golfing.  Over a putt, I’m telling him about great men; those who rose above their limitations and fears; those who were equal to the demands of their times; those who were forthright, courageous, honest, strong.

I will tell my grandson that no matter what is happening around him, he must rise and be the man that God expects him to be.

And I know that I will tell him of a man who was called upon in a time of great trial for our nation; when we were viciously attacked with a promise of worst attacks to come.

This man took on the challenge and did so with a fervent belief that God put him in this place, at this time, to do His will.  He awoke each morning and asked God what he needed to do to protect the hundreds of millions of people put in his care.  He went to bed every night and said a prayer of thanksgiving that, for the most part, these people entrusted to him were safe and secure.

This man looked at the threats throughout the world and did his best to address each one of them; with a focus on not only protecting his own people but on bringing liberty, peace and security to those around the world.

This man’s goal was to bring to the world the peace and joy promised us throughout Scriptures.

And, yet, this man was viciously attacked personally and done so from all segments.  He was maligned and distorted by Americans on foreign soil, foreigners on American soil, those who were supposed to be his supporters, and those who had a stake in a political agenda to bring him down and vilify him as the worst of mankind.

And he persevered through it all.  He was unpopular, mischaracterized, mocked, belittled and demeaned.  He made a great many mistakes.  But he kept going; trying to do what was best for the people he was called to serve; trying to remind himself that Christ was handed worst treatment.

I hope to teach my grandson that he needs to stand up for what he believes; no matter the cost.  That sometimes doing God’s will isn’t easy and that one’s reputation may be shredded in the process.  That being a real man of Christ entails sacrifice and faith; no matter the opposition arrayed against him.

I trust that I will teach him of a certain man, but do we realize that this man has existed in our time?

I fear that we do not.

Thank you, President Bush.  Well done, God’s good and faithful servant.

Perceptions

admin December 14th, 2008

You should have seen me this morning.

We went to Mass last night with my parents at their parish.  But, I wanted my 5-year old to go to his RFY class this morning during 10:00 Mass.

So, as I was tooling around this morning, enjoying an unusual Sunday morning, I remembered that I had to get my son ready to go to church.

And my mind starting cranking.  Well, I better shower.  Do I need to shave?  Do I wear my usual respectful Mass outfit or can I just throw on some jeans?

I decided on the shower, against the shave, and in favor of the jeans.  I got my son dressed and fed, and off we went.

My wife had already called her Mom & Dad who go to the same Mass, and asked if they could pick him up after class.  They agreed (of course).  So, I dropped him off at his class, and sheepishly told his teacher that we had gone to Mass last night and that his grandparents would pick him up after class.  I then hurried back out to my car, drove through the parking lot with my head shrunk below the steering wheel, and snuck out the entrance.

All the while, I was hoping that no one I knew would see me and think I was just dropping my kids off at RFY for babysitting and skipping Mass.

And, who really should care?

I went to Mass; I kept today holy; I cared enough to ensure my son attended RFY and gave his Christmas gifts to his teachers (it’s the last class until after the New Year).  But for all anyone knows, I was a deadbeat Catholic using the Church as babysitting, while I skipped off to a quiet breakfast.

I guess we need to be careful about perceptions.  I was concerned enough about other’s perceptions of me that I went through the motions I went through this morning.  But, ultimately, the only thing that matters is God’s perception of me.  He knows my heart; he knows what I have done; he is my only audience.  Save for the example we must set for each other as the members of the Body of the Church, God is the one we must answer to for our actions.

And maybe, I need to judge other’s less and just focus on what I am giving to Christ.  We can be observant, but we must not be judgmental.

Ah, my little lesson on this blessed Sunday.

“Who Are You?”

admin December 7th, 2008

I was at a dinner party the other night, and an older gentleman who has been married for a very long time revealed to the table a conversation he had with his wife a few years back.  (His wife was not present at the dinner when he told this story.)

During this conversation from the past, she evidently leaned across the table, looked him in the eye, and inquired of him – “who are you?”.  It was meant as a real question as to who this man had become; this man with whom she shared her life.

The table laughed, some more knowingly than others.  At the table were some who had seen their marriage come and go.  In their eyes, I saw a memory recalled of conversations long ago in which they asked or had asked of them much of the same question.

And I wonder, how many of us should ask this question or have this question asked of us by our spouses?

“Who are we?”

Do we really know the person with whom we share our lives?  Do they know us?  Do we realize that they grow and change, go through trials and tribulations of which we may be unaware, question us, pray for us, marvel at us, love us?

And sometimes, they ask the question of us, “who are you?”

And that is when we need to start worrying.  When we’ve become such an enigma to our spouses that they do not know who we are.

Advent is a time to awaken to Christ.  It is also a time to awaken to who we are, and to who others are, especially those with whom we love and share our lives.  And for our own good, it is time for others to awaken to who we are; good or bad.

And if this awakening is bad, then it is time for us to change.  I assume the older gentleman telling the story the other night changed.  He didn’t like the question from his wife (and probably didn’t like the answer either), and he loved his wife enough to make sure the question was never asked again.

So, what’s the answer if you would ask the question of your spouse tonight?  What is the answer if your spouse would ask the question of you?

“Who are you?”

Where’s the Flashlight?

admin December 4th, 2008

As we wade into Advent and I feel the need to defend why we should “keep Christ in Christmas,” I continue to be struck by how far we have come in striking our faith from our day-to-day existence.  Too many don’t want to integrate their faith with their lives.

I can’t imagine not going through each day without trying to have a conversation with God, trying to follow Christ, trying to ensure that my faith permeates everything I do and say.  I am unsuccessful too often, but at least I start off each day with good intentions.

I used to not be that way.  I used to not try.  At most, I used to fit God into my life instead of conforming my life to God’s will. 

But today, I can’t imagine not even trying to live my life for God.

And that’s what bewilders me about some men.  For some, religion has no meaning in their lives.  For others, their faith is fitted in nicely with the other things in their lives but isn’t a controlling force in what they do.  And still others have just lost faith in the Church in which they grew up.

And the thing is; there are many men who are good, decent, loving people, even if they shy away from their faith; who walk a good path, even if they don’t realize that they are walking with Christ.

Too many people say the right things but don’t walk the walk.  Others walk the walk but don’t fully commit themselves to Christ.  And I guess we need Catholic men who will do both.

We are in a world and culture where men are walking around lost, with no compass.  They need to see men that not only do the right thing, but can tell others that the reason they do the right thing is because Christ is working in them; and they themselves are  committed to being a man for Christ.  They need to have role models that show them that Christ expects each of us to follow him 24/7, whether in our families, our workplace, or our social lives.

Being a good man doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it doesn’t happen save for Christ working in our lives, even if we won’t admit it.

And these type of men; those who walk the walk but don’t want to acknowledge why; I believe the Holy Spirit is working in each of these men’s lives.  They may not know it; they may not understand it; they may not acknowledge it.  But the Holy Spirit is there.  I’ve seen it in a lot of them.

I’ve been thinking a great deal about darkness.  I like daylight; and this leaving for work and getting home while it is dark gets old for me real fast.  In the same sense, I also need the light of Christ to get me through the day.  I used to wander around in the dark and I can’t imagine going back to those times, even if I do come dangerously close at times.

But what’s worse?  Knowing that you are in danger of plunging back into the darkness; or being in the darkness, not even knowing you are there, and not really having a need to get out?

And then maybe there is this possibility; maybe it’s just that these men of whom I speak are not in the darkness after all.

I guess it’s just up to each of us to determine whether we walk in the light;and if not, what we need to do to get there.  And it’s up to each of us to ensure that we are not deceiving ourselves into thinking we are walking in the light if we are really stumbling around in the dark.  The Holy Spirit will tell us if we ask him.

Now, where did I put that flashlight; just in case.

Armor of God

admin October 30th, 2008

As men, we tend to try and go it alone; to face all of life’s challenges and difficulties with a solitary fortitude.  We may pray for strength and guidance; but ultimately we think it’s up to us to stand up alone to all that life throws at us, our families, and our career.

And we would be wrong in thinking that we are lone wolves protecting our pack.

Today’s first reading is from Ephesians 6.  St. Paul talks about us putting on the “armor of God” to resist the evil in our lives and hold our ground.  He also talks about the “breastplate” of righteousness, the “shield” of faith, the “helmet of salvation” and the “sword of the Spirit.”

In other words, Christ is with us in every struggle we face.  He is our armor, our breastplate, our shield, our helmet, and our sword.  He is everything we need to prevail in the battles of our lives.

But there is more, St. Paul also tells us that we need to “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit” and “be watchful with all perseverance and supplication.” 

And most importantly, we need to ”draw [our] strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.”

We are not fighting alone, if we pray and rely on Christ.  We are not fighting in vain if we use all of the graces given to us by God to help us in our daily struggles with evil and sin.

There is a great battle going on in our culture today; it’s a fight that impacts our families, ourselves, and our neighbors.  God expects us to engage in this fight for us and for them; and we best put on his armor to ensure that we have every chance to win.

I’m reminded that David refused the armor of men when he faced Goliath.  Instead, he chose the armor of God.  And that choice made all of the difference.  We cannot rely on our strength (i.e. the armor of men) in this fight.  We must, like David, rely on the armor of God.  He is all that we need to prevail.

“Little Churches”

admin October 27th, 2008

I often struggle with how to talk to our kids about Christ and our faith in a way that is age-appropriate.  What are they ready for and when are they ready for it?

So, I was intrigued when I read through my “The Word Among Us” issue this month.  TWAU is a good resource for the daily Mass and meditation on the readings.  Each month, they also have a series of articles.  This month’s theme has been “Exploring God’s Plan for Marriage.”  There was one particular article that really caught my eye – “A Little Church: The Great Dignity and Calling of Family Life.”

This article discusses how we can make our families like “a little church;” a term first used by St. John Chrysostom.  How does our families grow closer to Jesus?  How do we grow more holy?  How do we foster Christian formation?

The article reminds us parents that we are “the first preachers to our children.”  That “[y]oung children like to be together as a family” and that “praying together is one vital way to do this.”

To do this teaching, we cannot rely on schools, books, television, the Internet or the news.  No, our kids need ”faith sources.”  We provide these sources by bringing children to Mass; preparing them for the sacraments; and teaching them how to pray, how to get along with others, and how to know right from wrong.

The article asks two questions to determine whether we are building a Christian culture in our homes.  “Is the gospel being presented clearly?” and “How can we help each of our children take up the gospel according to his or her ability?”

And then the article gets to the crux of the “how” to teach our children.  It’s broken down quite nicely.

“You can begin at creation, telling your children that God created everything, and that he made us with a special ability to know him, to trust him, and to make the world a holy place.”

“But our first parents disobeyed God, and in so doing seperated us from God.”

“Still, God loved us so much he sent his Son Jesus to save us from our sins and to bring us back to him.  That is why Jesus died on the cross, and that’s why we worship him and thank him each Sunday.”

“Jesus wants us to live holy and good lives, full of love and kindness.  He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us, and he gave us the Eucharist to feed us spiritually.

“So today and every day, it is our family’s goal to please the Lord and to serve one another.”

“We need to have times when we speak to them about these truths.  We need times when we simply pray with them and show them the value of reconciliation.”

And, the summation of the article is that we need to show love to them and to our spouses; while meditating on Jesus and “falling in love with him.”

The article just has some overall good guidance on how to teach our kids about our faith by word and deed; and how to bring our children closer to Christ as part of our own “little churches.”

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