Thursday, August 2
Liturgical Color: Green
Today is the Solemnity of Our Lady of
the Angels of Portiuncula. The basilica
dedicated to Our Lady, is the site where
St. Francis of Assisi founded the
Franciscan Order. He died there in
1226.
Day 232 - How do parents respect their children? // How should a family live its faith together?
How do parents respect their children?
God entrusted children to parents so that they might be steady, righteous examples for those children, that they might love and respect them and do everything possible so that their children can develop physically and spiritually. Children are a gift from God and not the property of the parents. Before they are their parents' children, they are God's children. The primary duty of parents is to present to their children the Good News and to communicate the Christian faith to them.
How should a family live its faith together?
A Christian family should be a miniature church. All Christian family members are invited to strengthen one another in faith and to outdo one another in their zeal for God. They should pray for and with each other and collaborate in works of charity. Parents stand in for their children with their own faith, have them baptized, and serve as their models of faith. That means that parents should make it possible for their children to experience how valuable and beneficial it is to live in the familiar presence of the loving God. At some time, however, the parents, too, will learn from their children's faith and hear how God speaks through them, because the faith of young people is often accompanied by greater devotion and generosity and "because the Lord often reveals to a younger person what is better" (St. Benedict of Nursia, Rule, chap. 3, 3). (YOUCAT questions 372-373)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2221-2231) and other references here.