Raising Kids Catholic

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Don’t worry about everyone else before you have yourself and your family squared away. Right now, you just need to learn more about what the Catholic faith teaches, because with all due respect, there seems to be a lot you don’t know.
 
That’s a failure of how we teach our kids both as parents and as the church.
You’re right.

And confusing your own children by giving them the mixed upbringing you’re proposing, in the name of avoiding confrontation with your wife, is sure to have the same effect as this failure.
 
Ok, I am not really sure why you changed the topic in the middle of a discussion that many people already commented on because now we are all answering something you didn’t ask in your original post. For that reason, I am not sure what is left to say.
 
Of course, I care very deeply about my kids living a very rich faith life and as I learned from here, that’s by getting my faith life in order and leading by example.
Good! Start by baptizing those sweet little baby-heads!!

Edited to add: also, careful! Leading by example is great… but you also have to lead by leading your kids, too. There is a certain amount of putting your foot down that may entail - with both your kids (who may act like typical kids and not always be super enthused about Mass, CCD, and such) and your wife (who may act like a typical non-Catholic and not be super enthused about Mass, CCD, and such).
 
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Ok, I am not really sure why you changed the topic in the middle of a discussion that many people already commented on because now we are all answering something you didn’t ask in your original post. For that reason, I am not sure what is left to say.
It’s because the replies were towards this, not towards my initial question.

The direction of the replies made the initial question unimportant.
 
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And confusing your own children by giving them the mixed upbringing you’re proposing, in the name of avoiding confrontation with your wife, is sure to have the same effect as this failure.
The confusing your children just does not resonate. It shows a complete lack of care and dedication that I intend to show my children. I do care about results and how we teach our children as parents is most important. And us being on the same page is critically important.
 
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And confusing your own children by giving them the mixed upbringing you’re proposing, in the name of avoiding confrontation with your wife, is sure to have the same effect as this failure.
As a son of two parents from different Christian faiths …one of which was Catholic, I couldn’t more strongly agree with Fr. @edward_george1. Please listen to him!

I finally converted to Catholicism. It is a long strange story. I will say that you will save your self a great deal of heartache by working this out as soon as possible. The conversation with your wife won’t be easy, but the alternative really is failure.
 
The confusing your children just does not resonate… […] …I do care about results
I think it’s because many of us are saying it’s not just about “results.” The process matters too. The Church is picky about some details. You can’t just gloss over them in the name of strong faith lives and similar end results.
 
We are not talking in generalizations. You seem to be of the opinion that everything needs to be a quorum, or that everyone else does it, or they must be okay, they have more new members.

You are going off on a tangent by that comment.
 
I think it’s because many of us are saying it’s not just about “results.” The process matters too. The Church is picky about some details. You can’t just gloss over them in the name of strong faith lives and similar end results.
But isn’t it more important that they become Catholic than the process or those picky details? I get lost in all the details. I want my kids to follow Jesus, have a rich prayer life, and to do that as a Catholic.
 
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The replies were all geared toward your living your life as a Catholic first and foremost and leading by example.
 
The replies were all geared toward your living your life as a Catholic first and foremost and leading by example.
But the way you replied made me feel alienated and misunderstood.

I’ve for 6 years given it all to my family and I care to be strong in my faith and to be there for my wife and children. I chose to marry a non-Catholic because we largely agree on faith issues but wanted to just let the process things work themselves out. She was also perfect for me in many ways, though we’re working on communication. It seems like my wife doesn’t have a problem with our children being Catholic but doesn’t want her beliefs to be tossed aside and disrespected. We’ve attended mass together for 6 years and will continue to do so. I also would want her to become Catholic on her own accord, but she doesn’t believe in Confession or the Real Presence in the Eucharist (aka the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) so she feels that the most important part of the service is the sermon/homily as she can pray directly to God and the communion is merely a symbol of do this in rememberence of me.

Believing the homily is the most important part of the mass makes it very difficult for her to make the leap into the church.
 
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But isn’t it more important that they become Catholic than the process or those picky details? I get lost in all the details. I want my kids to follow Jesus, have a rich prayer life, and to do that as a Catholic.
It isn’t “more important” because you can’t separate the two. Think of this: how would you feel if you went to Mass & at the consecration the priest said “Hey, ya’ll! Jesus’s body is showing up! Yo! Here’s his blood!” Totally not the words of consecration, but why sweat the details?! Well, we sweat them because the Church teaches us that these particular details are indispensable. That doesn’t go for ALL details. Sometimes the priest has a choice on the color of his chausible. Or the style of the Church’s decor. Or whether he wants an organ or a piano. But some details are bits of essential stuff. Like your brain. It’s “details” matter. I can’t just excise a few millimeters of your brain and say “details schmetails! Most of his brain is still there! Sheesh.” But I can do that to your skin & you actually would be okay. See?? Some details are bits off essential stuff you can’t toss out. If the difference between essential bits & non-essential bits is unclear to you perhaps you’d enjoy a catechetical program. I believe Christendom College may offer one via distance learning? I thought I heard that recently. A good RCIA class might even help. Or read the Catechsim of the Catholic Church and Baltimore Catechism cover-to-cover In the comfort of your own home!
 
It isn’t “more important” because you can’t separate the two. Think of this: how would you feel if you went to Mass & at the consecration the priest said “Hey, ya’ll! Jesus’s body is showing up! Yo! Here’s his blood!”
Wouldn’t like it at all. It’s the reason why I go to mass. I love the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I said it was like going to heaven based on the book: The Lamb’s Supper. She loves the Fulfilled class as that explains the history of the church. She also respects that it’s from a Protestant convert.

Thanks for breaking it down. That allows my analytical mind to comprehend what you said.
 
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But isn’t it more important that they become Catholic than the process or those picky details? I get lost in all the details. I want my kids to follow Jesus, have a rich prayer life, and to do that as a Catholic.
Then you should push to have them baptized Catholic, in the Church headed by Christ, instead of letting them be baptized years later in a church not headed by Christ because their baptism is valid. You’re practically equating it to Catholic baptism just because it’s a valid one. So if it’s okay to be baptized outside of Catholicism because their baptism is valid, what else is okay? That church likely believes in the Trinity, they worship God too, so it must be okay to worship there instead of the Catholic Church, right?
 
That church likely believes in the Trinity, they worship God too, so it must be okay to worship there instead of the Catholic Church, right?
Nope. The Catholic Church is the full church - the Protestant church in my opinion has pieces missing. Unless you understand why the mass is what it is, however, a church is a church, is a church.
 
Nope. The Catholic Church is the full church - the Protestant church in my opinion has pieces missing. Unless you understand why the mass is what it is, however, a church is a church, is a church.
Then stick to the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Don’t let them get baptized outside of it, because they’ll be baptized outside of the Church.
 
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