“Now and Forever”

The following is the twelfth of twelve monthly reflections about the phrases of the “Lord’s Prayer” and what they tell us about family life.

            At the tail end of this past summer, I was visiting my childhood home where most of my family still lives.  My youngest brother had been the last one to leave home and purchase a house on the other side of town.  As he and I reflected on this recent development, noting its significance as my parents had achieved “empty nester” status, we talked about our childhood and upbringing.  Though there were many good memories to recall of us and our siblings, we focused the outcomes of each of the four adults thus far.  One thing that we considered significant was that each of us still practices our Catholic faith regularly.  My brother wondered aloud, “So what did Mom and Dad do to make that happen?”  We talked about going to Mass every Sunday, sending us to Catholic schools, praying regularly at mealtime and other important times in the year, but all of this seemed so ordinary.  Surely there was some extraordinary action they took to ensure their children adopted and practiced the faith so important in their own relationship.  Alas, we found nothing, and we concluded that it our parents, cooperating with God’s grace in very ordinary ways, had been able to leave a lasting legacy of Catholic faith in our family.  I naturally turned in thought to my own young family and asked the question all parents do at some point: “What legacy will I leave to my children?”     

            Each generation stands on the shoulders of giants, indebted to the sacrifices of previous ones.  There are advantages and privileges we enjoy today that some generation gone by could only consider a dream.  This is the case for our faith as well.  Many of the buildings where we worship, the freedoms we have, and the deposit of faith that is part of our makeup come from the sacrifices of those who have come before us.  We can draw this legacy all the way back through the prominent figures of our Judeo-Christian history right down to the names and faces that first gave each of us this gift of faith.  When we think of all who have sacrificed, often with tears and sometimes with blood, to ensure we have the faith we do, it helps us to understand how valuable a gift this is.

            It is our time to take up the mantle of carrying and passing on the faith to the next generation, both “now and forever.”  Whether it is to our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or any young person we have a chance to mentor, each us plays a part in helping the faith to flourish beyond our lifetimes.  Of course, every generation has faced challenges in this mission, and we certainly have ours.  The first to me seems to be a kind of digital distraction that prevents us from ever taking time to pray or reflect regularly.  I write this knowing the irony of this being an electronic message, so it simply shows that there are opportunities to bring faith into this realm of our lives.  Another challenge, at least for us in the United States, seems to be a convenience of worship.  We do not take the risks or make the sacrifices that others in the world do or our forebears did to come to Mass or practice our faith.  Doing so is becoming increasingly counter-cultural, but few of us face true persecution to live our faith daily.  Nevertheless, the trends of secularism in our society present a third challenge.  If we are the only person or family in our neighborhood or peer group making faith a priority, we may be less likely to persevere or live our faith as strongly as we might otherwise.

            Despite these obstacles, it is our responsibility to give our collective children this most important gift.  God’s grace is essential in this effort because without it we would never be successful.  It is also important to note that there is no perfect formula to have each and every young person adopt and practice the faith.  There must be an acknowledgement of free will, and even one of Jesus’ own disciples turned away from him in the end.  Yet, being consistent about seemingly ordinary religious practices gives us and our children the best chance of a real and lasting faith.  This will lead to the invaluable gift of a strong relationship with God in this life and ultimately, eternal happiness in the life to come.