Donuts for Dinner

Praying for parents to pass along the faith

10/22/2018

1 Samuel 1:24-28 In those days, Hannah brought Samuel with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh. After the boy's father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: "Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD." She left Samuel there.

Parents are not only the first teachers in the ways of faith, they are irreplaceable teachers. Why is that? Put simply, parents know better than their children what’s good for them. If it were left up to children, they would eat powdered donuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This holds true not only for food but also for faith. Parents must educate their offspring in faith by what they say and do. And the doing is the decisive part because the faith is caught as much as it is taught. The Catholic faith is caught like you catch a cold, by closeness and contact with a person of great faith.

Back in August of this year, Pope Francis visited Ireland and one day met with newly-weds and engaged couples in the Cathedral in Dublin. He said: “The first and most important place for passing on the faith is the home, through the quiet daily example of parents who love our Lord and trust in his word.” More specifically, he added this: “Pray together as a family; speak of good and holy things; let our Mother Mary into family life. Celebrate the feasts of the Christian people. Live in deep solidarity with those who suffer and are at the edges of society.” He teased as well: “Even mothers-in-law have wisdom.” When parents abdicate their first function as teachers, children eat donuts for dinner and junk food for faith.

We hear about two women who were exemplary teachers of faith and their extraordinary children who caught that faith from them. Hannah consecrates Samuel to the Lord by sending him to the seminary with Eli. Samuel had learned much from his mother but now his spiritual education would require great wisdom. In the gospel Mary’s Magnificat proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and obedience to God’s will, that would be the first lesson of faith she would impart to Jesus. Our Lord would remember that lesson in the Garden of Gethsemane when he accepted God’s will and set aside his own, just like his mother did in Nazareth when an angel appeared and asked her to accept God’s will.  Like mother, like son.  The faith is taught and it is caught. Both Samuel and Jesus had not only been taught the faith by words, they had caught that faith by works, the holy example of wonderful women of faith. Samuel and Jesus did not eat donuts for dinner or junk food for faith.

I think today in America parents really struggle to find their footing in faith education. In other words, I don’t frequently see parents passing on the faith by their own word and example. I visit many homes that are filled with fancy furniture and the fastest wifi, but few signs and symbols of faith, almost as if the family feared to be identified as Catholic or as Christian. Other parents abandon their first function as faith educators by expecting Catholic schools to do all the work. You teach them the faith, Fr. John! As good as Catholic schools are, we cannot replace parents, nor should we. Some parents hope the grandparents will form their children in faith. You tell them about Jesus, mom and dad! Still other parents fear forcing faith on their children and want them to freely choose their own faith after they grow up. They don’t want to prejudice children with the faith of the parents, as if faith were a parental prejudice, like racism. But when parents drop the ball in being first teachers in the faith, their children end up eating junk food, just like if parents did not insist their children eat their vegetables the children would devour donuts for dinner.

You know, I smile when I see moms and dads dress up their toddlers in outfits from their favorite sports teams: cute little Arkansas Razorbacks, or small St. Louis Cardinal fans,  or tiny Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. And yet, they feel no fear to share that parental prejudice with their children. Faith is not a parental prejudice, but rather the greatest gift you can give your children. When parents fail in their first function as teachers, their children will eat donuts for dinner and junk food for faith.

Praised be Jesus Christ!