Happy Catholic Schools Week!
When I meet with couples for baptismal preparation, I always remind them of the sacred duty that they have towards their children, namely, to raise their children in the faith. At the very beginning of the Baptismal Rite, the question is put to them this way: “In asking for Baptism for your child, you are undertaking the responsibility of raising him/her in the faith, so that, keeping God’s commandments, he/she may love the Lord and his/her neighbor as Christ has taught us. Do you understand this responsibility?”
So often, when we think of that calling/responsibility, we think of a lifetime of dragging our children to Mass, maybe even (or often) against their will. But I think that is a very impoverished view of the role and responsibility of a parent. What the Church really envisions is that parents witness to their children how much God loves them, bringing them up to know God, teaching them to listen to His voice, and reminding them that they too have a special calling from God. A parent invites their child into their own relationship with God. To the extent that we view Sunday Mass as a burden or obligation, no doubt, our children will as well. But if we’ve taught them how we pray, if we show them what joy God has brought to us in having a relationship with Him, then our children really do pick up on that. [Just the other day, one of my goddaughters started spontaneously praying for her little brother in the car on the ride home from daycare. She concluded her prayer: “Jesus, come into my heart.” She didn’t learn that from listening to Father’s homily or from a daycare class…she learned it because her parents pray with her every night!]
The family, as the Second Vatican Council reminded us, truly is a “domestic church.” From Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, paragraph 11: “In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred state.”
Here at Blessed Sacrament, we are incredibly blessed to journey with parents as they undertake this responsibility of raising their children in the faith. By our joyful welcome of families, we help parents understand that they are part of a community of believers who desire to witness God’s love to their children in the wider context of the Church. That’s a beautiful responsibility of ours! (It also requires that we don’t mean-mug a parent if their child is a bit fussy—believe me, they already feel bad enough for how much noise their kid is making; they don’t need our scorn on top of it!)
In a particular way, we accompany parents in their role as educators in the faith especially through our Catholic School. Not every parish has the privileged mission to spread the Gospel through a grade school, but we do—it is our parish school. As such, our parish has to have a vested interested in our school, because we as a parish have decided to take it upon ourselves to share in that mission of educating children in the faith! As a member of Blessed Sacrament, WE bear the responsibility of supporting our school, not just financially but also through our service of time and talent. This Catholic Schools Week gives us a good opportunity to reflect: how have I participated recently in the mission of our school? Please know you are always welcome as volunteers and collaborators in our mission of Catholic education, even (and especially!) by your prayers!
A special thank you this week to the teachers and administrative staff of our grade school. We truly have a dedicated bunch, and, as a pastor, it’s beautiful to see the way they joyfully witness the faith to our children!
Keep spreading joy!
Fr. Friedel