Murtha Hall was graced with the presence of Confirmation students and their parents on Sunday October 20th evening. Fr. Peter, Director of Religious Education Joyce Leach and teacher Paul Brucker welcomed them all.
All parents were there except one who had been sick. The purpose of the meeting was to connect with parents. The diocese insists on the necessity of parents’ involvement in the faith formation of their children. Aren’t they the first teachers of faith to their children?
Fr. Peter began saying, “I do understand your problem. Besides your tight work schedule and family obligations, you are mostly on the road to give ride to your children. Now I request you to understand my problem as a pastor. I, along with many pastors, have the fear that I may lose some of you when I am strict with class and Mass attendance. If you don’t come to Mass your children obviously cannot be blamed.” There commenced a pleasant conversation which resulted in consensus on a few issues.
Fr. Peter gave a small questionnaire to be responded by parents and students. The responses are indicative of deeper problems lying beneath our faith life. Take a look at the questionnaire and responses by PARENTS and STUDENTS.
The young are the future and hope of the Church. We, the church, the parents, the families and in fact every system in our society are obligated to impart our faith (doctrine and observance) to the next generation. Catholic faith is much more than a printed formula or intellectual retaining. It is our way of life. Blessing with Holy water and perpetual tabernacle candle do have direct meaning and effects in our lives. It is our responsibility to live and hand over this Catholic culture.
Everybody is breathing for time. But if we do not find time, time will have no time for us. Parents should find time for God and faith by setting priorities right. Evolvement of an empathetic understanding between the church and parents has become a necessity. We welcome parents and their children as they are into our church. They will in turn strengthen the church.
Comments
Kristine KalaposPosted on 12/07/19
(to Charles Valentino)
I just saw your comment - thank you. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will be with you during this holiday season as well.
Charles ValentinoPosted on 11/29/19
Kristine - Thank you for your beautiful reflection. You managed to capture a sense of the human condition that is often beyond words. That is your gift to all of us this Christmas. May the Holy Spirit be your constant companion throughout this holiday season. Shalom, Charles.
Kristine KalaposPosted on 11/22/19
Please excuse the excessive length of my previous comment. I had not intended to make it so long.
Kristine KalaposPosted on 11/22/19
On reading this post, as a person who was blessed enough to have had parents active in her faith formation, I felt obligated to share some thougnts on this and on CCD enrollment. I can do this from the perspective of a St. Joseph’s CCD student over twenty years later, who has learned through experience just how precious and crucial a gift CCD and involved parents are to a child being raised Catholic.
Black Friday commercials sometimes depict a huge crowd of parents converging on the entrance to a store on Black Friday. The parents rush in as the store opens and even nearly beat each other up in order to procure one of a limited number of the year's most popular toy - the one that their children just have to get.
To find that special toy under the Christmas tree does create a beautiful Christmas memory for the delighted child. A visit to my parents’ house demonstrates, however, what ultimately becomes of most such toys. Two new rooms were added to my parents’ home this past summer, and in order for this to be done piles of things stored for years in the garage had to be moved. Among these things surfaced toys that it had meant the world for me to have. Now, they are faded and collecting dust from years in storage.
The Black Friday commercials exaggerate reality but illustrate an important truth - that parents love their children and want them to be happy. Most gifts that parents strive to give to their children, however, are only meaningful for a while. By contrast, parents’ active involvement in building their childrens’ faith is a gift that never ages and can be a lifeline throughout the years to come - a source of strength, comfort, and wisdom - lending a crucial perspective on what is truly important.
Throughout life I have been able to take comfort in the knowledge that I can lean on God's infinite strength to accomplish things that I never could have done on my own (if He wills this). Also, I have been given the awareness that I have Someone to confide in who both loves me unconditionally and knows everything - no matter what time it is or where I am. Additionally, I know that God is willing to forgive my sins through Confession if I am truly sorry and aim to repent. The wisdom that was given to me and is given to to any child whose parents raise him or her Catholic lies in scripture. Such wisdom also takes the form of scripture's correct application to daily life as well as decision - making. Catholicism gives the perspective that life is only a very brief instant in eternity, and that conducting one's self according to God's laws is more important than gaining or keeping money, acclaim, etc.. Remembering this can bring many things that may seem huge at the time down to size as relatively insignificant for me. My parents' having been involved in my faith formation, having enrolled me in CCD, and having made sure that I attended weekly Mass have provided me with these things.
In passing on the Catholic faith to their children, parents can prove just how much they believe in and live this faith by their example - which is important. My parents were both active in the parish. I remember when my mother would take my brother and I to Saturday Mass as children because my father was at work -even though we could be difficult about this. When the time came to receive Communion I would physically see my mother walking ahead of me toward Jesus present in the Eucharist. Later in life I would see my mother endure the suffering of pancreatic cancer without ever complaining against God, getting to Mass when she was able, and bringing desserts to the parish Fish Fry within a few months of death. It is my hope that my mother now looks toward Jesus as she did when we’d walk to Communion, seeing His face.
Necessarily, there was not much time to write a eulogy when my mother died this past August. It was difficult to determine whether any idea was important enough to be included. I knew, however, that I'd mention that my mother and father had guided my brother and I to God and helped us to form personal relationships with Him.
Although my mother is now deceased, through the Catholic faith that my parents instilled in me she is still helping me every day. I do my best to trust in God and thereby keep functioning. Through Catholocism I have a moral compass as well as a map through life to heaven, even though I may not feel good about where that map is leading at a given time. All too often I get wrapped up in anger, self pity, frustration, etc., sin, and fail to follow this map. Still, however, the map is there and I know on a deeper level that its directions are the only correct ones.
I hesitated about whether or not to write and post this . Given the depressing state of my life right now as my family and I head into the first Christmas without my mother as well as related problems, I could get bitter and not feel like it. Thanks to the gift that my parents have given me of formation in the Catholic faith, however (the same one that will allow me to rely on God to get through this difficult time), I knew that I should make this post. Certainly I’m not unique in having benefitted so much from parental involvement in my faith formation, and others can likely reflect on similar ways in which it has illuminated their lives as well as how it could do so for children today.