What Is Our Goal As Christian Parents

What is our goal as Christian parents? There are many ways to answer this question, but the illustration above gives one form of the answer. Rich Cleveland, of Emmaus Journey, offered the following commentary on this “Catholic Wheel Illustration.” (His commentary has a direct bearing on our personal pursuit of holiness as spouses and parents as well as on our efforts to teach our children the faith through word and deed.) “First of all as Catholics we believe that transformation is a lifetime process, but pause for a moment and try to put down on paper what transformed followers of Christ should be like. What should be their attitudes? What should the behavior of a transformed believer look like? What should their spirituality consist of? The old adage that ‘If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time,’ holds true when it comes to producing well formed disciples of Christ. We must have some benchmarks in mind off what we are trying to produce, or we might well expend a lot of effort without making any progress. Here are some suggested areas of focus for spiritual formation: (1) Interior Conversion (2) Obedience to Christ (3) Participation in the Sacramental Life (4) Devotion to Scripture (5) Active Prayer Life (6) Commitment to the Church and Community (7) Involvement in the Great Commission These would be the initial areas of formation on which we could focus during the disciple forming process. The . . . “Catholic Wheel Illustration” [above] endeavors to capture these various aspects. In the “Catholic Wheel Illustration” Christ, represented by the hub of this illustration, is the motivation source and the power we need to live a life pleasing to him. . . . As Catholics, we believe that Christ should be the center of our life and existence, and that the Holy Spirit, through the Sacramental Life, draws us ever more deeply into the life of Christ through his Body the Church. The Sacraments are various manifestations of Jesus’ presence in the Church and enable us to open ourselves to Christ’s grace more fully. ‘Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, … but

especially in the Eucharist species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised “where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.”‘ (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1088). The second inner ring of the Catholic Wheel Illustration represents this Sacramental Life which provides a basic means whereby Christ and his power reaches our lives and overflows through our lives to others. The rim of the wheel represents the Obedient Christian, responding to Christ’s reign through wholehearted obedience to his revealed will. His will is revealed to us through sacred Scripture and through the magisterium of the Church as the Holy Spirit helps us to understand and apply these truths. This obedience to Christ will be manifest in our thoughts, words, and deeds expressed both toward fellow believers and toward unbelievers whom we encounter in our world. The vertical spokes represent two means by which we are able to develop our relationship with Christ, The Word, and prayer. In various contexts, the expression, “The Word” represents different meanings: (a) Jesus the Logos or Word of God; (b) the Bible as the written word of God; or (c) revealed truth, i.e., “a single sacred deposit of the Word of God” [Verbum Dei, 10] that includes both sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. “The Word” and prayer are critically important in the sacramental and liturgical life of a community and in the personal spiritual life of the individual. It is through “The Word” that the Father communicates to us, and it is through prayer that we are able to communicate to the Father and learn from him. Both are essential aspects of spiritual formation that need to be developed in the life of Christ’s followers. The two horizontal spokes represent our relationship with people. The Community spoke represents our relationship with fellow believers, and the Evangelization spoke represents our relationship with non-believers. Regarding Community every disciple should be part of a parish community where they can be ministered to and where they can serve others. As we live in community, we become formed as Christ’s followers and are equipped to serve him. One of the ways that we are mandated to serve him is through a life of evangelization. For laypeople, formation and service normally take place in the smaller communities within the larger parish community, through small groups devoted to either growth or service, or both. ‘Small communities are powerful vehicles for adult formation, providing opportunities for learning, prayer, mutual support, and the shared experience of Christian living and service to church and society. … We welcome this phenomenon as ‘a sign of the Church’s vitality …’ ['Our Hearts Are Burning Within Us,' Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, 106]. The other horizontal spoke, Evangelization . . . is our primary task and a mandate from Christ which we are to fulfill as we go forth into the world to bring about conversion to all and in all spheres of society. . . . . Telling others about Jesus should become a natural expression of our love for him and his love for us. When these other elements about which we have been speaking are present and active in our life, sharing Christ by our

words and actions will become second nature to us. Like a wheel, our life runs most smoothly when the various aspects of the Christian life are present and in balance. When one aspect is missing or unbalanced, our lives often become unstable and ineffective. . . .” (Quoted from “A Vision for Ministry: Seeing more clearly the potential and process of forming Catholic disciples,” by Rich Cleveland) How do we guide our children to become balanced and obedient Christians with Christ at the very center of who they are? We might begin by clearly articulating our goal and how we hope to achieve it. Perhaps this “wheel” can help us in that process. Perhaps it can serve as a “target” at which we aim. How do you think about the task of raising children and the goals we are trying to achieve? (Submitted by G. Harne.)