“See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children – and so, in fact, we are.” ~ 1 John 3:1
Children are a gift, a joy, a blessing, a challenge, and a responsibility all rolled up into one. In a sense, they themselves are a gift of stewardship and we as parents are entrusted to teach them and guide them in the way of our Lord.
Everything belongs to God, our Creator, including our children and our very lives. Therefore, we are to be good stewards of this incredibly good gift God has entrusted to us. How do we go about our daily lives to be good stewards and models of faith for our children?
Today our children are faced with an overload of advertisements that only confuse them about who they are, are they good enough, what you really need to be happy. Each child needs to know that they are a masterpiece – God loves them and accepts them just as they are. We can also help them to understand the difference between needs and wants and help them to concentrate on their blessings. We can be the best examples of virtues such as patience, forgiveness, and gratitude. As parents we can emphasize spiritual direction through daily Scripture, through attending weekly Mass and receiving His Body and Blood in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
But there is MORE! We are so excited to welcome you to THE CATHOLIC PARENT, a video series for Catholic parents created by Catholic parents. See the bulletin on page 5 for access on our parish app called FORMED. You can access it simply by scanning the QR code on your phone too. I think this will be an amazing feature to help all of us embrace our calling to parenthood and stewardship alike.
Blessings to all,
Karen Bartos, C.R.E.