By Susan Ciancio
I recently saw an advertisement for a Catholic T-shirt that read “Do what makes you happy holy,” and I thought Yes, they get it! And then I thought, Of course they do; that’s the way Jesus and the Church teach us to live.
I’m sure you’ve heard people say something like “God would want you to be happy” in response to a decision you’re trying to make. You may have even said it yourself. But thinking only in terms of our own happiness is missing the point of a life lived authentically for Christ. Yes, God does want us to be happy, but even more, He wants us to be faithful. Happiness is fleeting, but joy in Christ is everlasting. Further, often what makes us happy in the moment is not actually good for our souls, and that’s where the danger of pursuing happiness comes in.
In the book of Psalms, we read, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the Lord is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night.”
How many of us can say that the law of the Lord is our joy? Living this way can be difficult, and our tendency is sometimes to make the easy choice. But does that easy choice lead us to, as the Psalm says, the “counsel of the wicked”? Often it does. So we must train ourselves and our children to seek joy in Christ rather than happiness in worldly things. This starts at home and with education based on Church teaching.
This is not always an easy task, and sometimes even despite our best efforts, children still reject our gift of faith or choose the easy way out, forgetting about or dismissing Christ’s commands and seeking worldly pleasures. But because our job as parents is to get our children to heaven, we must continually build that foundation of faith. We do this through our example.
Thankfully, there are many amazing ways we can allow our example to impact our children. It starts with us faithfully following the commandments and the teachings of the Church. That means that we joyfully go to Mass on Sundays and holy days, that we receive the sacraments and go to confession regularly. We read the Bible, listen to good Catholic podcasts, or read books about the saints or scripture. We pray regularly and let our children see us praying. We help others within our means, whether that’s volunteering, donating, or simply praying for those in need. And we speak kindly to and about others, especially online.
All of these actions are things that our children should see us doing. And then we must involve our children in the faith as we help them see the beauty of Christ’s Church. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, parents are the first educators of their children, and we must never take this education lightly or relinquish that responsibility totally to someone else.
When we teach the faith, we must also integrate pro-life values into their education at home, as it’s important for children to learn that you cannot be Catholic and support the culture of death that seeks to normalize threats to life such as abortion, euthanasia, birth control, and other such evils. Booklets from the Culture of Life Studies Program help teach these values in an age-appropriate manner by starting off with why we should love and show respect for all human beings and then working up to more serious topics. These booklets are meant for parents to use regardless of where their kids go to school.
Beyond book learning, kids need the tools to courageously live their faith. Perform works of kindness or service together. Help an elderly neighbor with lawn work or shopping. Teach your children respect and empathy for elderly grandparents or for the child who may feel left out in school or on the playground. Point out the beauty of a preborn baby anytime you see a pregnant mom. Excitedly attend Mass, not as a chore but as a great gift. Talk about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Clean out closets to donate to shelters. Offer up sacrifices for the suffering in purgatory or here on earth. And go to Adoration regularly (even little ones can sit in Adoration for five minutes).
Taking action is how we build a culture of life and how we teach our children to do the same. When we fill our children’s days with the joy of our faith, this joy will more likely become part of them rather than just part of their days. Only then will they see that they don’t need the momentary happiness that comes from things of this world. They will strive for holiness, and they will see that true joy comes from a love of Christ and His Church and from living that faith openly and proudly.