Pope's Prayer for Parents to Pass on Faith to Children

Romans 10: 14-17 Faith comes from what is heard.

REFLECTIONS ON THE POPE'S MONTHLY INTENTIONS - December 2014

The following comes from ... Apostleship of Prayer receives monthly prayer intentions from the pope and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. The reflections below seek to illuminate the Holy Father's concerns.

Evangelization Intention - Parents

That parents may be true evangelizers, passing on to their children the precious gift of faith.

When parents shirk their responsibilities to their children, society tries to step in to ensure that neglected children receive the necessary care. Children needs include physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual. We tend to focus on the physical needs, but, though important, those needs are temporary, affecting a child’s earthly life. Neglecting children’s moral needs threatens the future of society which depends upon citizens adhering to upright moral values. That’s important, but neglecting a child’s spiritual needs endangers his or her eternal destiny.

 Pope Francis said: “No one becomes Christian on his or her own! Christians are not made in a laboratory. We have received the faith from our parents, from our ancestors, and they have instructed us in it. We are able to live this journey not only because of others, but together with others. In the Church there is no ‘do it yourself’, there are no ‘free agents’.”

Parents are the first and most important catechists. According to Pope Paul VI, “since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators.”

Evangelization begins at home. If children have not been raised in the faith and with moral values, it’s often too late for schools and the larger society to make up for the neglect. As we pray with Pope Francis that parents may be true evangelizers, we ask that they not only speak about the faith but live it in a way that speaks even louder than their words.

 Lord, we pray for Your help in this MOST IMPORTANT endeavour!