Nurturing Your Family’s Faith
I probably learned to count by praying the rosary with my family, mostly because I was calculating how many prayers were left before I could go do something else.
The rosary was a thread that ran through the life of my family. One of the last images I have of my parents—a literal image—is a photo of them praying the rosary on the flowered sofa in their living room.
The theme of this month’s Liguorian is “nurturing the gift of faith in the family,” which makes me think about how different such a thing is today from when my parents were doing the nurturing. I suspect you’ve seen the same kinds of differences.
My siblings and I attended a Catholic school and had few meaningful interactions with people who weren’t Catholic. Masses were crowded, and it was typical for the family to pray the rosary, even if the kids grew bored.
Research shows that today’s Catholics are less likely to buy books about nurturing their faith. They’re less likely to go to Mass on any given Sunday. And they’re less likely to pray the rosary with their families.
Liguori is learning how to address these differences.
Our response is to focus on creating books, programs, and other products that speak to people where they are. It’s a very Redemptorist—and a very Christian—way to connect with individuals and nurture their faith,
That American Catholics are more likely to interact with people of different faiths and backgrounds is a good thing for our faith. It gives us chances to talk with our families about faith, to answer the inevitable questions, to model how Christians treat others. It produces a richer soil in which to grow a strong faith. After all,
an intelligent, informed, curious faith is a strong one.
In this issue, you’ll find tools to nurture faith in your family. Mary Ann Reese writes about broken communication in families and how to renew it. Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC, offers an examen for married couples, one that asks hard and important questions. Mary Sharon Moore states that the sacraments prepare all people—teens, too—to do God’s work.
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would you like to change? We’re eager to hear from you. Please write to me at publisher@liguorian.org.
