You did it!
I did it!
We did it!
We took our children to Church today!
How beautiful it was to hear their crying! To see them walking everywhere.
When one quieted down, another cry was heard in the backround.
You could see a father with a child going out, and another coming in.
You could see them all lined up to get the Eucharist or the very important blessing from the arms of their parents.
Mummas pushing prams saying sorry for the space they took or for the lack of coordination trying not to hit the seats on those hard curves.
Mummas trying to rock their babies to sleep.
Dads carrying their babies for the whole hour just because it was the only way to actually have some quiet time
Or the dads trying to carry 2 crying kids up to the Eucharist and then back to the car. It was to much for the kids to stay any longer without a major emotional breakdown… from both: parents and kids.
Frustration. Sadness. Tiredness.
Stress. Aprehension.
Don’t be. I see you. We see you. We are the Church.
YOU ARE PART OF THE CHURCH THAT CHRIST FORMED.
Do not feel ashamed.
The Church IS young. God has NOT lost hope in the World. If He didn’t want Humanity to continue He wouldn’t allow any kids to be born… but He does. He loves kids, He treasures families, He wants vocations to be born from families: priesthood, motherhood, service… Oh, so many!
That is Our role, ladies and gentlemen. We take them to Church because it is our job, the most important one, to introduce GOD to our children.
I am married now. Far from the land I was born and from the land that saw me grow. The land is far. Family is far or not here anymore. The only thing you truly inherit from your parents is your faith, the example of God’s love, God’s trust, God’s mercy but also God’s truth, not sugarcoated truth to suit the “political correctness” of the 20th Century Fashion… no, the TRUTH, plain and simple.
God’s Word doesn’t expire.
God’s Word doesn’t change it’s mind.
God’s Word is ONE, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Read it.
Learn it.
Act according to it…
Because your children won’t do what you tell them to do, they will do what your example, your actions told them it was important.
Go to Church.
(Even if you spend the whole time trying to not get distracted)
Go to Confession.
(Even if it has been THAT long and you cannot remember everything you need to say)
Pray at Home.
(Even if your kids don’t pay attention for the whole time. Even if your kids rosary ends up flying everywhere because they think it’s a toy. Even if your kids cannot pronounce the words properly… or refuse to say the prayer).
Teach them by example.
And the only way to be a Good example is by praying for it, by cultivating your own faith to pass it on.
God sees you.
God loves you.
God will reward you.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
See you next Sunday at Mass!
God bless you,
Liza, a Maronite Mum
Maronite Mum 