Raising Children in Christ Centered Home

Greg Witherow, a father of eight children spoke at the Parenting Series hosted by Holy Trinity Catholic Parish. Greg stated that our primary objective as parents should be to raise our children as model citizens for heaven and that although people may compliment your family on how well behaved they are, raising children is chaotic.  He believes that children, who internalize the Gospel, will have hearts for Christ and the reason we have children is so that we can get to heaven. One of the primary things to remember is that we are called to be faithful and not successful.

Faithfulness begins with ourselves, and Greg points out that Christ states in the Gospel that He will vomit us out, if we are lukewarm in our faith.  Christ would rather that we be cold or hot, than lukewarm.  We have to be Christ centered in our faith, especially fathers, who need to lead, nourish and protect their families in the faith.  Fathers are the Christ figure within the family. Just as Christ compared our faith to building our homes on rock, or strong faith, families need to be built on faith.  Families will know how strong their faith is when trials come or mistakes are made.

There are situations where the father is not there and Greg states that the bible shows how the widower, or single parent, is a person of great faith also when she gave all she had to the temple, even though it was the smallest amount compared to what others gave.  Often single moms, more than single fathers, are responsible about bringing their children up spiritually.

Raising a family today is a spiritual battle because our culture is filled with filth.  Greg gave seven practical ways to raise our families today.  First is to pray for wisdom. Second is to train our children in the way they should go.  Third is to be involved in your children’s peer relationships, but do it with a spirit charity.  Fourth is to pray as a family. Fifth is to study the bible.  Sixth is to make use of the sacraments and seventh is to remember that you are a parent to your children.

Date Published: 2008-06-04 07:04:31

Section: Local News,