Are/will you raise your children up Catholic

[gardenswithkids]

anna1978:

In which case you probably don’t want to know that my parents chose to bring me up speaking Dutch, in Holland and as an adult I DECIDED to give up my Dutch nationality and stop speaking Dutch…I’m British now and speak English (and German), although my parents never taught me that…

Otherwise, I do get your point, great analogy, but…it’s not always that clear cut.

Anna x

Hi Anna, Your personally story fits my analogy, and I’m glad you shared it.

It’s not always clear cut that a child will speak her parents’ language or share their faith as an adult, because regardless of how she was brought up she eventually still decides these things for herself. But to say that childen should be left to decide religion without parental teaching and influence, is about as silly as to say your parents shouldn’t have taught you to speajk Dutch or any other language.

If you had never learned to speak a language as a child, you would have been at a great disadvantage in learning to speak any other language. And I think even parents who teach a misguided religion serve their children better than those who teach none at all. All religions that sincerely seek God have some elements of truth, and teaching children to sincerely seek God and His truth is a highly valuable skill to teach children.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

As a mother and a Catholic I follow the Catholic teachings and requirements. When my husband and I married (Catholic Church)we promised before God that we would raise our children in the Catholic faith. So, you see there is no choice in the matter. We have an obligation as Catholic parents to raise our children up in the Catholic faith.

 

[BlestOne]

From the time of their birth, my kids were taught that mass is a celebration. I have never had a problem getting them to go to mass. In fact, if I was not well and didn’t go to mass they still did…they walked when they weren’t old enough to drive, and drove when they were. My biggest complaint was when my oldest (almost 19) decided that he liked the early mass and would go on his own or take his 14 yo sister. I asked him to please attend with me as we are a family. I know I have nothing to complain about, trust me, I know how blest I am… Point being… it was a conscience decision to teach my children about their faith…and when they asked why we went to mass every Sunday and their Protestant friends didn’t, I told them the truth…God blessed me with them, but he also commands me to raise them in the faith…I am not going to take that responsibility lightly. It doesn’t matter what their friends parents do…I do my absolute best to do what God wants me to do. So far, kids are 18, 16, 14 and 10. none give me any trouble with going to mass and actually love to go. In my house we do pray together at meals and we do advent and lenten devotions…and every now and then my daughter asks me to pray the rosary with her… I wish we prayed more together but having 1 in college, 1 in high school, 1 in middle school and 1 in elementary is a bit taxing just keeping up, not to mention husbands 12 1/2 hour work days and my fulltime plus hours. I have no doubts it will get easier again, but for now, I pray, they have had a good enough example.

 

[aspawloski4th]

If me and my wife had kids of our own, my answer would be YES!! AS parents its one’s job to teach. That not only includes how to live in this world , but also how to make it to Heaven in the next.Teaching your children how to make it to heaven is the most important. You cant leave children to thier desires, because thats mostly what the most fun to them. As a parent you have you teach your children that life isnt all fun and games, and there are things required of them, or they will get a nasty surprise when they arrive to adulthood.I want to pose this qustion for intuitive people out there. 50 years ago a question like that would of never come into anyone’s mind. In those days it was assumed the religion of the parents is the religion of the children, and no one every questioned that, no one worrried about resentment or anything of the like. It was that way for 1000’s of years. Now I see thinking like this question all over the place to the point I have grown sick and tired of it. What is SO speacial about this day and age that we worry about what our kids thaink??? If my dad would of sugested that he wants to not go to church to his mother, a frying pan would of been bounced of his head. If I would of brought up something like that to my dad it would of landed a foot in my fanny if he was in a good mood, it would of been something worse if he was in a bad mood. Its a parent’s job to raise their child correctly, not to please them. Me and my wife dont have children due to her health problems, but if we did. They would be brought up Catholic, they would be in Catholic schools, and not going near a public school, and yes they would be going to Mass every sunday and holy day of obligation, and be taught thats part of the journey to Heaven.

 

[cardenio]

I grew up Catholic… well, am growing up Catholic; I’m 17… I’ve wanted to write an autobiography about the rebellious teenager who decides to prove his Catholic parents wrong and can’t do it, but that isn’t my story, and as fiction it wouldn’t be so great.

What we need is really good schools. And, of course, really good parents, who LOVE GOD and set a good example. And, parents, LOVE your teenagers, do everything you can to show your love for your teenagers, because too many teenagers are convinced their parents hate them. The best way to do this: LISTEN and be interested in what’s going on in their life. Yes, it’s easy to toss it away as “it’s not a big deal, you’ll get over it in a few years” (most teenage issues are like that), but it’s a big deal now, and the pain is real now.

To answer the other question - yes, I will raise my kids Catholic, unless I join the sisters like Fr. Bob wants me to, in which case I shouldn’t be having children.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

cardenio:

I grew up Catholic… well, am growing up Catholic; I’m 17… I’ve wanted to write an autobiography about the rebellious teenager who decides to prove his Catholic parents wrong and can’t do it, but that isn’t my story, and as fiction it wouldn’t be so great.

What we need is really good schools. And, of course, really good parents, who LOVE GOD and set a good example. And, parents, LOVE your teenagers, do everything you can to show your love for your teenagers, because too many teenagers are convinced their parents hate them. The best way to do this: LISTEN and be interested in what’s going on in their life. Yes, it’s easy to toss it away as “it’s not a big deal, you’ll get over it in a few years” (most teenage issues are like that), but it’s a big deal now, and the pain is real now.

I agree with you 100%. I have a daughter who is a teenager and we but heads on a lot of issues but we always end up hugging each other and I always tell her that I love her. That is true that parents should take interest in their children’s problem whether it is big or small. Never dismiss these problems as nothing.

 

[Nekic]

I guess the question for me is not “will I raise me children catholic”, but rather, “will I have children?”

As my profile states, God has yet to tell me wether i am to be a priest or pianist.

Mary, I can be both, but i cannot pursue a FULL career as pianist if i do both. There is a difference.

Going on,
Hence, if God does tell me to be a pianist, and he does tell me to get married, and naturall, have children, i will raise them catholic to the best of my ability.
I will make them love the faith.
I will make them love the rosary.
If they say it’s boring, i’ll make it interesting. Scriptural rosary will make it easier for them as well.
We will go to mass every sunday. I will explain to them what it all means, so they come to appreciate it as i do, something my parents never did for me.
We will go to adoration once-twice a month. My children will grow to love the eucharist.
I will chatechise them myself. I can save the money that i would normally spend on high school fees for a private school, and use it for good books for me to teach them the faith.

I have it all worked out.

I will probably even teach my children Latin as their first language. They can learn english at school. (Mary, hahaha).

And if they don’t become hideouly catholic,
I will pray to God for assistance, and try harder.

I cannot live with children without them being catholic. It is out of the question to have non-catholic children.

 

[LittleDeb]

manualman:

The above poster has it nailed.

I’ve worked with several hundred teenagers shortly before their confirmations in doing confirmation retreats. The sullen ones universally are that way due to being forced to participate in what they can tell their parents obviously don’t believe in themselves.

Kids who had a healthy personal catholic faith at that time nearly always also had parents who lived a radically catholic way of life.

To my way of thinking, parents who take the philosphy of ‘let them develop their own religious convictions’ are no different than parents who see their kids playing on railroad tracks and decide ‘let them develop their own personal standards of safety.’

Well said! :clapping: