Living Catholicism: The Culture of Life and Your Kids

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October 1, 2006

The Culture of Life and Your Kids

I think all parents will agree that it’s important to teach your children about life issues from an early age. Without a good conscience and a solid foundation for understanding these issues, emotional stress can distort decisions they will have to make in the future. We have to accept the responsibility for teaching our children the truths of abortion, contraception, euthanasia, and others.

Today is Respect Life Sunday where we reaffirm our commitment to the Culture of Life in our country and the world. Which makes it a great day to start teaching your kids these truths.

A Starting Point
I think it’s worth mentioning that unless our kids see real concern on our part, they aren’t likely to see the importance of these issues. Which means we have to pray for these issues with our families; we have to seek out ways to actively help; and we have to repeatedly mention their importance to our children.

A great starting point can begin today: say a Rosary for the Culture of Life. This simple act will teach children a lot – not to mention the divine benefits of prayer. Make a commitment to praying the Rosary for Life issues once a month or once a quarter. This constant commitment will underline what you teach your children regarding the Culture of Life.

Deeper Learning
Only you know when it’s appropriate to talk about what abortion or euthanasia is. Clearly smaller children must simply know that we love life. But there are ways to teach this without introducing the evils of abortion to your kids. One book I highly recommend for smaller children is Angel in the Waters. It simply explores the thoughts of a baby in the womb who is speaking with his guardian angel. The beauty of the book is that it gives children an appreciation that pre-born babies are still babies.

Books can’t teach them fully in these issues, parents have to have frank conversations as they get older. But books provide a great background so that they can better understand the theological and moral issues behind the Catholic position. For older kids, take a look at Theology of the Body for Beginners, which is a great introduction into Pope John Paul II’s teachings on the Culture of Life. These types of books provide depth in their understanding – I think we can all agree that children need to really understand these issues before leaving for college, when they will be introduced to lots of contrary ideas.

The Moral Basis
In the end, these are moral issues. It is difficult to become pro-life without a good moral makeup. In other words, parents must be an excellent moral example for their kids. Otherwise they are taught that morality isn’t something you really have to do. If you making moral decisions, nothing you say can get them to make those decisions in their future.

The Point
The point is that we, as parents, must take responsibility for our children and the future. Culture begins in the home and a culture of life must begin with children learning and believing in that culture. Choose today to act by teaching and showing your children how to grow a culture of life in the home.

God bless,
Jay

Posted by jay at October 1, 2006 3:00 PM