One of the great joys of being a parish priest is the comings and goings during the day. This is especially true on Sundays and the days when school, camps or other activities with families are happening around the parish grounds.

As I stand at the doors of the church before Mass begins I am able to witness the coming together of a family and my greatest joy is when the young children coming running up to the church often imploring mom and dad, or their siblings to hurry up. It is also true that as time goes on, as children grow, this enthusiasm of running to church can wane. It is true that as many of our youth reach the “teens” and young adult life they begin to resist and can at times turn away from the celebrations of our Catholic faith, most notably the Mass as they proclaim that they are “spiritual” but not “religious.”

At the beginning of Chapter 3 of Amoris Laetitia Pope Francis offers this view of marriage and family I believe helps us to resist this waning of faithfulness. Following the message from the Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) we are encouraged to be a prophetic voice of joy and love in the world. This is the goal, how God desires we follow in his plan of creation…to be joy filled people of love. Now comes the hard part.

“In and among families, the Gospel message should always resound; the core of that message, the kerygma, is what is “most beautiful, most excellent, most appealing and at the same time most necessary”. This message “has to occupy the center of all evangelizing activity”. It is the first and most important proclamation, “which we must hear again and again in different ways, and which we must always announce in one form or another”. Indeed, “nothing is more solid, profound, secure, meaningful and wise than that message”. In effect, “all Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma”. (58)

There is this little word “kerygma.” What does it mean and how does it help us to fight for the joy of the Gospel. I will leave it to St. John Paul II to give meaning to kerygma (see below), but to put it plain and simple…as we know the Gospel, we know Jesus and follow him by faith.

It has been taught, said, proclaimed…use whatever word you like…over and over again that parents are the first and best teachers of the faith. This is done by both words and example. And it is not easy. While St. John Paul II writes we are overwhelmed by God’s love as we entrust ourselves to Him, how many times do we, and especially parents, become overwhelmed by the many things that can distract us away from the love of God, family and neighbor.

The message, though simple, is very difficult to follow as we allow the small distractions to enter into our daily routines. I asked a parent one time, when she was struggling with her teenage daughter, if she prayed with her before bed (or at any time). She looked a little shocked and said she had stopped that practice when her daughter was ten years old. I challenged her to begin again knowing that there would be great resistance..

Pope Francis reminds us that as we grow, as we know God better (or worse), as we are challenged by the changing world, the message of the Gospel, the practice of the faith and the life of virtue are still important and relevant to the forming of our lives. We just need to say it a bit differently.

I wish I could promise parents complete success by following a prescribed program…but I can’t…the free will thing God has blessed us with. But I do trust that the seeds we plant, the nurturing we do and the tears shed in watering the hopes of our world are blessed by God. We may never see the return, but trusting in God we know that life conquers death and love overcomes sin.

God Bless

Fr. Mark

 

 

St. Pope John Paul II wrote in Catechesi Tradendae,

“Thus through catechesis the Gospel kerygma (the initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith) is gradually deepened, developed in its implicit consequences, explained in language that includes an appeal to reason, and channeled towards Christian practice in the Church and the world.” (CT 25).