"A Preventative Parental Examination of Conscience" or "How to not ask a priest in 20 years "Why don't my kids go to Church?"

Up front: some people who leave the Catholic Faith as adults do so despite receiving a perfectly wonderful upbringing in the Catholic Faith.  I always give St. Monica as an example to mothers and fathers who are hurting because their child/children don't practice the Faith anymore.  She did everything she could for St. Augustine (at least St. Augustine felt so, looking back on his upbringing) but he still left the Faith as a young adult.


But, if you are a parent of a teen right now, there are some things to ask yourself as an examination of conscience to try and prevent, as much as possible, your child from leaving the Faith when they get to college/move out of the nest:


1) Do I train my child to understand that Mass on Sundays and holy days is an obligation, a bare minimum for someone wanting to stay in a state of Grace?


2) Do I take my child to religious education classes, if they are offered, and if they aren't offered or if they are bad, do I teach my child about the Faith myself?


3) Do I pray with my child with some kind of frequency at home?  At meals?  Do we ever pray a rosary?  Do we ever read Scripture together?


4) Do I talk about the joys of the Faith, or do I gripe about the teachings of the Church I don't like?


5) If catholic education is possible, do I sacrifice for that?  If it isn't possible, or catholic education in my area is poorly done, do I make sacrifices for my child to go on World Youth Day and other such Faith-affirming activities?


6) Do I model care for the poor and teach my child that if you want to see the Face of Christ you must go help the poor?

"Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it."

- Proverbs 22:6 -