Parents Need To Renew Commitment To Worship God With Their Children 

 

 

The Bishop's Voice

 

Bishop Michael Sheridan, S.T.D.
Nov 27, 2006 11:00 AM

I would like to issue an urgent plea to all Catholic parents of elementary or high school-age children. I’ll get to the plea shortly, but first a little context.

Among the most important and joyful duties of a priest is that of reconciling sinners to God and to the church. This reconciliation takes place preeminently in the sacrament of penance (confession). It is said that St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, spent as many as 16 hours a day in the confessional, absolving the faithful from their sins.

As a bishop I do not have as much opportunity to hear confessions as I did when I was the pastor of a parish. I treasure those times when I have the chance to sit in the confessional and welcome those who come to have their sins forgiven. I believe that any priest would attest to the fact that these are among the most fulfilling moments of our ministry.

I am especially edified when children and teenagers come to the sacrament of penance. In a time when so few Catholics avail themselves of this precious gift of Christ, it is truly heartening to know that some young people have not abandoned this beautiful sacrament. If the young people do not touch on the matter of faithfulness to Sunday Mass, I always bring it up to them. "Do you participate in Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation?" I ask. Almost invariably the answer comes back: "Not every Sunday. I go as often as I can." "Why are you not able to go to Mass every Sunday?" I continue. And then comes the sad reply: "My parents don’t go to Mass every Sunday, and I can’t go if they don’t take me."

We are all familiar with the statistics. Barely 30 percent of Catholics attend Mass every Sunday. This is less than half the number of only a couple of generations ago. Why do so many of those who call themselves Catholic not participate in the most important act of our Catholic faith? There are many reasons, not least of which is the poor catechesis that my generation and the generation that followed have received on this subject. How many of the faithful were told by teachers that, if they did not want to attend Mass, they didn’t have to?

Of course, this contradicts the consistent teaching of the church — a teaching that still can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin" (No. 2181) [emphasis added].

And now my urgent plea to parents: please be faithful to Sunday Mass and be the example for your children that you promised to be when you presented them for baptism. Each of us places his or her salvation in jeopardy whenever we deliberately and needlessly fail to give God the worship that is His due. Even more so do parents place their souls in danger when, by neglecting their obligations to God, they teach their children to do the same. Of course, I know well that there are many parents who take their obligations to God and their children very seriously, and to these parents I express my thanks and the thanks of all the church.

On Sun., Dec. 3, we begin a new liturgical year in the church. A new year is a time for new beginnings. There could be no better "new year’s resolution" for parents than to renew your commitment to worship God with your children each and every Sunday. There could be no better gift to your children than to serve as worthy instruments for passing on the faith to them.

The church makes it clear that parents are the first teachers of their children in the faith. If you feel inadequate to fulfill that obligation, the religious education programs in your parish and in our Catholic schools can help, but they cannot substitute for you. Parents have the indispensable role of keeping their children connected to God and to the church. This cannot be done if parents themselves have lost their own connection through failure to participate in Mass every Sunday.

We are celebrating a time of thanksgiving in our country. Let us give thanks for the greatest of all gifts — our faith and baptism into Christ’s body, the church. And, so that our thanks will not be empty, let us renew our determination to enter deeply and faithfully into that which truly makes us Catholics, the holy sacrifice of the Mass.