Fortifying a Catholic family

With Catholicism in a storm of dogmatic chaos, those who stand for Catholic teaching now are swimming hard against the collective tide.

Many at the highest Church levels are endorsing serious error, sanctioning depravity, and proposing reversals of Catholic doctrine. How does an earnest Catholic clarify true Church teaching to others?

With a little time dancing on a hot tin roof, he learns.

There are many liberties here in America and worldwide. But liberty of conscience isn’t one of them for Catholics. That’s the beauty of Catholic Truth: it’s God-given and holds. We can rely on it – no matter who denies it, calls it ‘old school,’ or is “woke” to it. There’s no ‘new math.’ Over two millennia of saints, church doctors, popes, and theologians elucidate those impermeable teachings. Shoring up our “holes” in understanding through reading their works, along with Scripture, is crucial. The best part is, their inspired logic helps us know why the Church espouses what it does – which is key to embracing it.

Protecting a Catholic family against spiritual – and even mental and physical – collapse is a challenge, but can be pulled off. Kids respect parents who set limits and rules, because they know they’re safe. And accountable. It’s a practice-run for their eventual meeting with God.

Prioritizing God above all else – which means daily prayer, reverent Sunday Mass, and being in the state of grace for Holy Communion – lets kids grasp their place early on. They’ll know who they are, why they exist, and where they’re headed. When I was a teenager, if we “cut” monthly Confession on First Saturday, Dad would call the priest personally for us and make a new appointment … and we’d still get grounded for the lie. But he would always explain why.

Fulfilling regular tasks well – and taking responsibility for infractions – matures every person, no matter his age. Nothing like paying the piper for messing up. Once I’d ransacked my mother’s makeup for a date, then left it in a heap on her bureau. After her lecture on respecting authority and property, she decided I should improve my vocabulary as atonement. She assigned chunks of an old learn-these-new-words book, then quizzed me aloud. It was a frequent penance – but led to my love of language.

No secret movie or TV watching … our set was smack in the middle of the house. The edgy shows 40 years ago were laughable compared to now. Being a hairstyle groupie and clothes horse, I snuck peeks at Dallas and Knots Landing – but my parents heard the dialogue and killed them with Bob Newhart. My covert copy of Catcher in the Rye got mysteriously caught in the trash pickup.

Years later when teaching RCIA, I got hit with tough questions from catechumens. They realized certain Catholic premises, but not the reasons why. Reaching back in time to priceless lessons of my parents, exposure to good Catholic literature, and exemplary nuns and priests, I knew how to respond.

And for a few, maybe just in time.

CHRISTINE VALENTINE-OWSIK is Legatus magazine’s editor.