Bob, I love this line of thinking. This makes sense.
However, take a look at Patrick Madrid’s web blog and let me know what you think. This is what makes me nervous about raising children, who don’t end up in the faith, or living in sin.
patrickmadrid.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-will-you-say-when-god-asks-where.html
Jon, Rainy:
Wow. This IS powerful !
Bless this priest for his courage to tell it like it really is.
I wish I could reach him to thank him for this sermon.
Please, don’t be nervous about raising children, who don’t end up in the faith, or living in sin. Remember ‘where you were’ at their age. If you knew my story, you would know that ANYTHING is possible thru His grace. (not to mention the prayers of Our Lady)
I can say this much- all 3 of my sons were (I believed) STRONG Catholics when we sent them off to college.
1 of the 3 returned a strong Catholic.
1 returned Agnostic.
1 returned Fundamentalist.
What is the lesson here ? Well, the priest in this recording says alot about it, and I cannot guess where along the way, and in how many ways, my kids were led astray by the public school system.
I do know, in painful retrospect, what were my own failings in their Catholic Christian education. I also can clearly recall in the same painful retrospect, the many times I was not a good Christian example to my boys. So there is a personal responsibility component to every case of a Catholic son or daughter leaving the True Faith. Because we are not perfect parents it will always exist to some degree in these cases.
That said, please consider this:
No one who understands and believes what happens in the Holy Mass leaves the Catholic faith.
No One.
When you know Christ is physically present, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, along with the entire heavenly court, you are not about to leave or go anywhere else…
As a convert, I am shocked at how many (even ‘cradle’) Catholics do not believe and appreciate this central fact of our faith.
As parents, God asks us to do the best we can. He knows us very well, and understands each of our limitations.
He will help us if we ask Him to.
But He will not beat the door down if we neglect to invite Him in to our lives.
So where does this leave us ?
1-Teach your children as best you can.
2-Pray for them every day.
3-Especially when they are young, let them SEE you praying.
4-Encourage your parish CCD teachers to teach what the faith is really about.
5-Impress on your parish CCD teachers that when high school seniors are about to leave for college without truly understanding and believing what happens in the Holy Mass, that we as a parish have an EMERGENCY SITUATION on our hands. Statistics in every parish say that they will never see that kid again.
Of course if it gets to this 11th-hour situation, then there is much wrong with the composite picture of the child’s Catholic education at CCD & home. But the cases still need to be identified and an effort made to make the young person aware of the reality of the miracle we Catholics call the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I also assist with teen CCD at our parish, and I make it my mission to address this issue. If we send our youth into the world without an awareness of what the RCC professes about the Mass, we have failed them.
Jon, Rainy, this is the best we can do and God will always accept our best. Beyond that, I stand on what I quoted from the priest in Medjugorje—Love them and Trust them to God.
Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, God’s grace in my own faith journey has proven to me many things I once thought not possible, not the least of which is the amazingly merciful patience God has for us.
So, bless your little ones while they are young, continue to pray for them when they grow up, and TRUST to GOD their future, and their ultimate conversion to His holy will.
May God bless you with His grace,
Bob
No God, No Peace .
Know God, Know Peace .
And now for what it is worth, I am a Catechist! ! !
