Giving the best of Christianity to our children
About midnight, while
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail
shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison
doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that
the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to
yourself; we are all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling
with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and
said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord
Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the
Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the
night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at
once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his
household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
Parents always want to give their
children the best, don’t they? But
sometimes they don’t know what the best is, especially when it comes to
religion. Parents from different
religious backgrounds often attempt to raise their children in both
denominations and say, “We’ll let them choose which one they want when they are
old enough. We don’t want to force our
religion on them.” So they raise their
children to be “Metholics,” or “Baptolics,” or “Cathoterians.” But parents don’t suffer this same dilemma
when they decide what clothes their children should wear, or what T.V. shows
they may watch, or what friends they may associate with, or which schools they
will attend. Parents know what are the
best clothes, but not what is the best Christianity. Forgive me for sounding arrogant but we
believe the fullness of Christianity resides in the Catholic Church, while
there is certainly lots of goodness and grace in other denominations. If we didn’t believe that, we would cancel
RCIA, and tell everyone to stay put in their Protestant church.
In the first reading from Acts we
meet a man who has no doubts about what is the best religion for him and his
family. A jailor witnesses the power of
God freeing Paul and Silas and hears the Good News of salvation. What does he do next? He goes home and tells his wife, “Let’s
continue to raise our children in the Roman pagan religion as well as
Christianity. Let’s not force either
religion on them. When they are old
enough, they can choose for themselves.”
Is that what he did? No. Acts 16 says, “He took Paul and Silas in at
that house of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family
were baptized at once.” When he baptized
his family, we can assume that included small children and infants. You see, when parents know what’s best, they
don’t let their children decide.
We are witnessing a phenomenon
today of many Catholic parents postponing baptizing their children
indefinitely. Do you know when they
finally baptize them? When Johnny and
Susie are in second grade. Do you know
why? It’s because Johnny or Susie want
to receive First Holy Communion with their classmates. You see, these parents have let their
children decide what’s best. But that’s
about as smart as letting them decide what’s best for supper every night: I
hope you like mac and cheese and chicken nuggets! Parents want to give their children the best
so they read Dr. Spock and listen to Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura, but they ignore
the Bible that tells them what’s really best for their babies is baptism.
Again, forgive me if this sounds
arrogant and condescending. But the
saints and martyrs didn’t suffer and die for a faith that was just as good as
any other religion in the world. They
suffered and died for the best. And
that’s worth forcing on your children.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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