Originally published at National Catholic Register
Your actions matter, but so do your words. Here’s why it’s essential to talk openly about your faith with your children.
Excerpted from Family Faith Under Fire: Practical Answers to Everyday Challenges
A paramount desire of faith-filled parents is to pass the Faith on to their children. Their hope is that their children will embrace that Faith throughout childhood and beyond.
So it is with deep distress and no little guilt that a parent watches her child suspect, neglect, or reject much or most of his childhood beliefs. The self-doubt and second-guessing disrupt not only her inner peace but her relationship with her now young adults.
While all things church may not be unfolding as Mom or Dad expected, that doesn’t mean they are at fault. It also doesn’t mean the story is over.
Talk the Walk
Dear Dr. Ray: I’ve always believed that my actions speak louder than my words. So, as the saying goes, rather than talk religion, I’ve chosen to walk religion. My kids are nine and thirteen, and I’m not sure they’re walking behind me. —Speechless
The following saying has long been attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words.”
