Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

I found this great post over at www.vocation.com so thought I would share it. A postles. From the very beginning, help your children see that a Christian is meant to make a difference in the world around him, we are Christ’s ambassadors. Light of the world and salt of the earth. Make them aware that their faith is a gift and talent to share. A nswer your children's questions about priesthood or religious life; never discourage them or ridicule them if they bring it up. Baptism. Celebrate each one’s Baptism Day as well as birthday – and yours too. Build family traditions around the celebration… a specially decorated Baptism Candle that you light for the occasion with a special prayer…, displaying photos of their baptism.., writing a card or saying a prayer for the priest who baptized them…. B ring your family to an Ordination Mass or prayer vigil for religious.   C atechism. Teach, explain, challenge and have them memorize. Always connect it with life. C hallenge your teenagers ...

On the eve of the Baptism of the Lord, here is a prayer for parents: Dear God, I need to talk to you for a minute about these kids you gave me. First of all, let me make this clear. I adore them. They amaze me, a million different times throughout each day. They are clearly your creation and not my own. And for this, I am thankful. I could have never come up with something this wonderful, even if you had asked me to write out what I had in mind on paper before they were born. But, I want you to know that I am scared. The world looks to me, as their parent, to teach them and protect them, raising them to be successful adults. I wonder why, then, must the world work against me on every step? As a little girl, my precious daughter – well, actually, she is Your precious daughter – happily skipping through her day, treasuring each moment and believing anything was possible. But somewhere along the way to being a teenager, she lost her joy. Now, her days are filled with paralyzing self d...

Today the Irish Independent, one of our national newspapers ran this headline: “Parents get vote to take schools out of control of the Church” I have to say that I was saddened to read this.  Why? Firstly, this statement is one which is very misleading, provided by a media, which is supported by anti -church sentiment which has grown amongst those who have proffered from the system but now reject said system. I am proud to say that I went to a Catholic school run by the Sisters of Mercy for 14 years, from when I was 4 years old to when I was eighteen. To be honest I have to say, my Catholic education has given me a strong foundation in my religious life. It gave me values which complimented the values which I received from home, a love for educating and learning, a respect for those who sought to teach me in many ways. All the preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation was done in a classroom setting. My teachers brought me to the parish on Fridays where we joined f...