THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

HOW DOES A PARENT TEACH WITH GRACE?

A SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE ALL PARENTS ENDURE IN RAISING THEIR CHILDREN IS MAKING SURE THEY DO NOT IMITATE OUR SINFUL HABITS. OUR HUMAN CONDITION IS CONSTANTLY INVOLVED IN A SPIRITUAL BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL THAT, IN MANY WAYS, AFFECTS OUR ROLE AS PRIMARY TEACHERS OF OUR CHILDREN. THIS SPECIFIC CHALLENGE BECOMES MORE APPARENT IN OUR DESIRE TO BE HOLY WITNESSES FOR OUR CHILDREN AND AT TIMES IS THWARTED BECAUSE OF OUR OWN SINFUL BEHAVIOR.

St. Francis De Sales in his “Introduction to the Devout Life” provides us with the following insight into our human condition:

“God did not create you because

He had any need of you, for you are wholly useless to Him, but only that

He might exercise towards you His goodness, bestowing on you His grace and glory. To accomplish this, he has given you an understanding to know

Him, a memory to remember Him, a will to love Him, an imagination to recall His mercies, eyes to see the wonders of His works, a tongue to praise Him, and so with all your other faculties. Therefore, being created and placed in the world for this purpose, you should avoid and reject all actions which are contrary to it; and despise as idle and superfluous all which do not promote it.”

THE ART OF TEACHING

The ability to pass on information is not as difficult as one might perceive if the person’s intentions are truthful. The basic premise of teaching whether it’s religion, economics or philosophy is to convey truth aimed at assisting the person to navigate life and apply that acquired knowledge in daily living. When religion, specifically Catholicism, is the subject matter the aim as revealed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is to partake in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. (CCC 457-460)

An effective teacher of religion embraces a responsibility to convey the truths of the Catholic faith. The delivery of the Catholic faith should not be contrived or convoluted where the only thing the child encounters is a confusing list of themes and words that convey no relationship with Jesus Christ. Effective religious instruction provides a child with an opportunity to seek a trustful and active relationship with Jesus Christ. This initial step paves the way toward a response of faith or the willingness of the child to act on what he or she has learned.

THE PARENT AS TEACHER

The primary duty of any parent is to convey the truth to their children. This requires a basic and systematic approach of providing an authentic witness of Christian living that touches the mind and the heart and serves as part of the delivery of the holy deposit of faith and morals that originates from Jesus Christ. For the process to bear fruit a parent must demonstrate a joyful desire to embrace an active relationship with Jesus Christ. Part of this active relationship involves the profession of faith in the creed and a willingness to live a life that embraces the Trinity and imitates Jesus Christ.

Parents serve as the primary motives of credibility and the first example of authentic love a child will see and experience. (CCC 156) This first instance of instruction reflects a two-fold process of presenting the message of Christ, first, proclamation of the Gospel and second, providing instruction on how to actively live a sacramental life in Christ.

TEACHING WITH GRACE

The doctrine of grace is defined as a participation in the life of God beginning with the sacrament of baptism that allows us to participate in the grace of Christ. Grace is a favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God. It introduces us to the intimacy of Trinitarian life by virtue of our baptism. (CCC 1996-1997)

St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians 5:17-18 explains the free and undeserved gift in the following way:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.

By our Christian baptism, we are already inclined to receive the gift of grace from God whether through the habitual gift of sanctifying grace aimed at perfecting the soul to live and act with God, or habitual grace which is a permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call. (CCC 2000) When a parent expresses a visible desire for their child to encounter Jesus Christ organically and lovingly, this act of faith is a work of grace.

This could be through establishing virtuous habits within the home: praying before meals or over your children before they go to bed, designating time for the rosary, reading Sacred Scripture — especially lectio divina — and intercessory prayer where the family prayerfully intercedes for one another and those in need.

As God the Father loves us so, our children must see our love for them. The human expression of divine intimacy is nurtured by our motives of credibility rooted in a joy for Christ and his Church. The words of St. John Paul II validate the importance of teaching with grace:

The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching: His silences, His miracles, His gestures, His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor, His acceptance of the total sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world, and His resurrection are the actualization of His Word and the fulfillment of revelation. Hence for Christians the crucifix is one of the most sublime and popular images of Christ the Teacher. (“On Catechesis in Our Time,” 9)

DR. MARLON DE LA TORRE is the Executive Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship for the Archdiocese of Detroit.