The whole point of any vocation is to get you to heaven. From my still-fresh view on marriage and family, closeness with Christ is absolutely required if salvation is the goal. I don’t know about you, but I think that fits the bill pretty well for parenthood, because how in the WORLD am I going to teach another person(s!) how to live unless I’m familiar with him who is the Way?? Regardless of how young or old our kids are, God constantly asks us to imitate Him in our approach, which means we need to know who He is so we can exhibit His love to our children.
I’m simultaneously overwhelmed and amazed by the fact that parents are primary educators for their children’s entire lives – a description inherent to the job (CCC 2223). Regardless of how much or how little we invest in them, we can’t escape their watchful gazes and absorbent minds. What begins as sweet amusement, seeing them imitate our mannerisms as toddlers, develops into an eye-opening truth the older they get: our kids will follow the example we set from our time as young parents through our own deaths.
If we’re going to take on parenting for so long, then we need to realize that our children are souls entrusted to us by God, and that He selected us specifically to show His love to them. In my piece on Mom’s Night Out, I marveled at the reality that as much as my children are a gift to me, I have to recall that I am also a gift to them; a truth that refocuses my attention on the grander scheme of life as a parent. Educating our children isn’t just helping them learn ABCs or choose a college; much more importantly, it’s being conduits of God’s love and mercy so they will know Him through us.
This alone calls for faithful practice of Catholicism – how can I possibly pass on the love of Christ when I’m not drawing from it myself? It’s in encountering God through the sacraments and frequent prayer that we have hope of educating our children this way. Going to confession allows me to receive mercy and forgiveness, which I then more easily exhibit to my kids. Attending Mass every Sunday (and some ambitious days in between) enables me to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ himself; when I receive these with a heart open to God’s grace, I can much better place my children above less significant priorities. Clinging to Christ will make us better primary educators to our children because of how closely they observe and follow our examples.
Not only will frequenting the sacraments improve our souls, but it sets the bar high when they see us practicing Catholicism and they will experience the effects themselves. As a mom of three boys (and a sweet splash of pink due in November!), the happiest times of my motherhood have been when I actively chose to imitate Christ and receive my children with joy and compassion as he does. The most miserable times I’ve had were when I neglected prayer, and consequently regarded my kids as obstacles to happiness and peace. The latter is a farce because happiness and peace come from embracing that to which God calls me – and He has made me a parent.
Parenthood is a lifelong vocation with heaven as its objective. God calls us to imitate Him in His own faithfulness, generosity and love by passing them on to our children. Left to my own devices, I’d never survive the trip unless I were hopefully clinging to Christ, receiving his graces from the sacraments, and being a conduit of his mercy to my kids.
The original edition of this article appeared in the Catholic Connection
Featured image taken from bridetobewaystosave.com
