Parents as Catechists

Intermountain Catholic

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Kit and Kevin Cummings

“Believing parents with their daily example of life, have the most effective capacity to transmit the beauty of the Christian faith to their children.”

 – Directory for Catechesis 124

As parents, we teach our children about life: how to walk, talk, dress, use the restroom and so much more. We also teach our children how to trust, to love, and to believe. In fact, the Church specifically calls us to be the first teachers of the faith.

 Which, to be honest, intimidates most of us. It’s uncomfortable. What if you get something wrong? What if your children ask questions you can’t answer?

You can’t share or teach something you know nothing about. Start with learning more about what you believe. It doesn’t have to be something ambitious like a master’s degree in theology. Start simply by investigating through reading or joining a Bible study. Perhaps you could sign up for a daily email reflection or just read the daily readings.

If you don’t have a prayer life, start now! It can be as easy as saying grace at dinner or reciting the “Our Father” as the children go to bed. A good next step might be a family rosary, or even just a couple of decades. Involve the children and take time to explain the mysteries to them so they can learn more about Christ’s life. Prayer waters the seed of faith and, watered regularly, faith grows.

Live your faith by getting involved at your parish. There are many ministries in the Church that require little time but make a huge difference.  You might try lectoring, being an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, or acting as a greeter before Mass.

Ministry does not have to be confined to the walls of the Church. You might find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank that you and your children can do together. Maybe a rescue shelter needs some help. The point is to do something to help others and demonstrate to your children the Corporal Works of Mercy. Your children will see what you’re doing and will want to follow your example.

By growing in the knowledge of your faith and applying that knowledge to the real world, you are modeling how to live a good Christian life. Will everything be perfect? Probably not; the world isn’t perfect. Will your children be strong in their faith? Maybe, maybe not, but if you do nothing, they will definitely learn nothing.

Of course, you should also enroll them in Christian formation at your parish. The one-hour-per-week at church isn’t enough on its own, but combined with what you show them every day, their faith will bloom.

Our own children are adults now and, looking back, we were imperfect as teachers of the faith. Like the fish and loaves Christ used to feed the multitude, God took our small gifts and used them to grow the faith in our children. We have had our “successes” and our “failures” but the successes don’t seem to come directly from us and the failures always contain the seed of  love and hope which may still grow.

Kit and Kevin Cummings, parishioners of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Layton, are the parents of two sons, one of whom is a Paulist priest.