Do your children reject faith? Think of Saint Monique
It is not always easy to be a Christian parent and especially a Christian parent. Sometimes we are so discouraged to see our children move away from faith that we come to give up. How in these circumstances can we not sink into discouragement, the devil's formidable weapon?
Educating children has always been difficult. But it is perhaps even more so today. Christian parents are very often forced to row against the tide. Many feel alone and helpless in the face of the many influences exerted on their children, far from the faith they would like to pass on to them.
What to do in front of Alice who screams every time it comes to going to Mass or chaplaincy? What words to find to speak of God with Baptiste who derides everything he is told? How can we pass on his hope to Paul who is locked in his difficulties? What is the meaning of family prayer when it becomes an opportunity for arguments and tensions? How can we not feel guilty when our children seem to reject everything we seek to pass on to them, to share with them?
Trusting God
The first thing to do — and to do tirelessly — before looking for solutions and answers to our questions, is to hand everything over to the Lord with confidence: our doubts, our painful questions, our revolts, our remorse, our insomnia, our tears and our fragile hopes. Let us entrust to Him above all those children who are first and foremost his own. He loves them even more than we love them. He knows what's best for them. He is always willing to forgive and any evil, He knows how to shoot a good.
The Lord does not act as a magic wand: He respects us too much for this. But to the One who cries out to Him, He always answers. If we have the impression that He is not answering us, it is because we are not ready to accept his answer, because we are too rushed, impatient, or because we are looking for the answer that we think is right, the one that corresponds to our views by forgetting that our projects are not necessarily those of the Lord.
Don't feel guilty
We are not perfect parents and sometimes we make mistakes that can be serious. But there is no point in cultivating guilt: it is a toxic plant. Guilt is a weapon of the devil. What comes from God is the contrition, pain of the one who has hurt love.
Educating children has always been difficult. But it is perhaps even more so today. Christian parents are very often forced to row against the tide. Many feel alone and helpless in the face of the many influences exerted on their children, far from the faith they would like to pass on to them.
What to do in front of Alice who screams every time it comes to going to Mass or chaplaincy? What words to find to speak of God with Baptiste who derides everything he is told? How can we pass on his hope to Paul who is locked in his difficulties? What is the meaning of family prayer when it becomes an opportunity for arguments and tensions? How can we not feel guilty when our children seem to reject everything we seek to pass on to them, to share with them?
Trusting God
The first thing to do — and to do tirelessly — before looking for solutions and answers to our questions, is to hand everything over to the Lord with confidence: our doubts, our painful questions, our revolts, our remorse, our insomnia, our tears and our fragile hopes. Let us entrust to Him above all those children who are first and foremost his own. He loves them even more than we love them. He knows what's best for them. He is always willing to forgive and any evil, He knows how to shoot a good.
The Lord does not act as a magic wand: He respects us too much for this. But to the One who cries out to Him, He always answers. If we have the impression that He is not answering us, it is because we are not ready to accept his answer, because we are too rushed, impatient, or because we are looking for the answer that we think is right, the one that corresponds to our views by forgetting that our projects are not necessarily those of the Lord.
Don't feel guilty
We are not perfect parents and sometimes we make mistakes that can be serious. But there is no point in cultivating guilt: it is a toxic plant. Guilt is a weapon of the devil. What comes from God is the contrition, pain of the one who has hurt love.
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