“We are in a world that is increasingly hostile to religion. We are no longer in Christendom and we cannot think that the transmission of the faith is going to happen culturally.”
Newsdesk (10/03/2023 1:55 PM, Gaudium Press) Three Spanish priests, Fr. Patxi Bronchalo, Fr. Jesús Silva and Fr. Antonio María Domenech, love their vocation and their mission. They came together to present a catechetical programme called “Red de Redes”, broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Catholic Association of Propagandists in Spain.
In episode 16, they devote themselves to addressing a topic that concerns a growing number of parents: “the transmission of the Faith in the family”.
These priests have no illusions on the subject, and they begin by opening the eyes of those who have them closed: “We are in a world that is increasingly hostile to religion. We are no longer in Christendom and we cannot think that the transmission of faith will happen culturally“, says Father Bronchalo. Therefore, “we have to start from scratch and educate our children in that what they are going to live [their Christian faith and Christian lifestyle] is counter-cultural in society,” adds Fr. Silva.
Each family must find its own style of transmitting the faith. But there are principles that should guide it.
In the first place, the coherence of the parents’ lives: “Children have two cameras that constantly point at us”, their eyes, recalls Fr Bronchalo, and so “coherence is very important”.
“There are parents who fail to go to Mass one Sunday, and that is teaching their children that going to Mass is relative; it dismantles the scale of values they are forming,” Fr Domenech stresses. On the other hand, on holidays do you go to a place where you know you won’t be able to go to Mass? Or do you avoid those places? “So your children get it into their heads that Mass is so important that it justifies not visiting a country.
Sowing the faith is something that must start early, because by adolescence it may be too late: “from a certain age, when they are older, we must be careful not to become heavy, because they put up a wall and no longer listen,” comments Fr Silva. “You have already sown what you had to sow; now all that remains is to pray and, from time to time, invite them“.
With small children, all the means
With young children, “do not stop laying the foundations, sowing, with all the means you can”, emphasizes this priest: for example, reading the Bible, taking them to Mass, praying with them, making them feel that Jesus is a living person.
It is important to instill not only knowledge but also experiences, such as bringing them before the Blessed Sacrament, playing Christian music, immersing them in Christian art… and telling them testimonies of people whose lives have been changed by encountering Jesus Christ,” continues Father Silva.
This priest also insists on what he calls ‘arriving early’: “children are going to have access to social networks, Tik Tok… and you have to be one step ahead, explain to them what is going on: that on the Internet they are going to tell you such and such, and you have to know such and such”. In addition, he warns parents against the use of pornography, because “when you lose your morals, you lose your faith”.
Fr. Bronchalo again focuses on meals together, since the table is “the sacred altar of every family”, the place of meeting and sharing. “We must take care of these privileged spaces,” he says, and avoid them being subjugated by television or mobile phones.
For the teaching of Christian doctrine, Fr Silva recalls that there is YouCat, a catechism for young people, and its complement, DoCat, with proposals centred on practice.
And there is no lack of recommendations for good Christian films.
With information from ReligiónEnLibertad
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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