Wednesday, December 17, 2008

10 Steps to Getting Your Children Into Heaven: Step 1

Step 1: Attend Mass weekly.
This should go without saying, but I see so many families in which Mom and the kids are at Mass faithfully, but Dad shows up only every now and again. What do kids learn when Dad misses Mass regularly? They learn that some things are more important than God. They learn that when the Church says spomething is mandatory, that Dad really doesn't believe it. They learn that the only reason to go to church as an adult is if you have kids to take and that that part is Mom's job.
One of the first precepts of the Catholic faith is to be obedient to the Church. The Pope speaks with the authority of Christ. The Church tells us that it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. When we as fathers take that seriously, we teach our children, by example, obedience to the Church, and obedience to God. A nice by-product is that that obedience enhances obedience to their parents.
A further benefit is the growth of our own spirituality. I do not think it is possible for a Catholic to grow closer to God without obeying the rules on Mass attendence.

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