“Have you seen my Childhood…?”
Yes, if you are trying to remember where you heard those lines before, it was in the popular song written by the late Micheal Jackson.
Our current reality is that life is on a speeding boat on the Atlantic and things are changing so fast; faster than they should, faster than we expected. Our children are growing up so quickly that we tend to forget they aren’t our dear little ones anymore. Their chests gets broader by the day, their voices goes deeper, their bodies instantly becomes aroused by things they see on the daily and they get taunted sexually by the adults and elderly.
All this happens within a twinkle of an eye and the kids, who now think they are all grown up and ready for the world, fight aggressively to take up roles and responsibilities in the society which adults should; ‘unprepared’.
“Our parents today have sweet memories and stories to tell about their childhood and how interesting it was. What story will your child tell his or her children?”
The Catholic Church has given and will continue to give all families willing to expose their children to real life scenarios, Christian doctrine, stories of Saints and Martyrs and other teaching which would help form them into Christ would be proud of. These are the following ways the church achieves this:-
- Mass
- Catechism
- Legion of Mary
- Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria
- Young Christian Workers
- Catholic Women Organization
- Catholic Men Organization
- Other Pious & Liturgical Societies
Any child who is exposed to the first five (5) listed before the sixth (6) and seventh (7) would not only experience a beautiful childhood but would become well-grounded in the teachings of the Catholic Church, would have the opportunity to share opinions and experiences with others and would not be shaken when the tidal waves of life’s challenges comes beckoning because of the ‘solid faith’ which would have been deposited in them through out all those listed formation stages.
Remember this information isn’t for meant for us and our families alone, as Christians, we have been called to be Christ like which in turn means we have to share with our neighbors.
“As a Catholic mother or father, what knowledge of the Mother Church have you passed down to your offspring(s)? How strong is their Catholic faith? What do they know about the church, is it Sunday Mass alone?”
As a parent in the Catholic fold, these are salient questions we need to ask ourselves daily.
Do you know that for every adult male Catholic who presumably sees the ‘light’ and leaves the faith to join our ‘separated brethren’ or as some would call it, ‘protestants’, the Catholic Church loses a generation of people who will receive “Christ Himself” in the Holy Communion?
Wow! What great grace is lost to so many!
Come now! This article is a wakeup call for all and sundry. The Church is calling us again in this Jubilee Year of Mercy to allow us as Christ’s children have our childhood memories refreshed, just as Christ said in Matthew 19:14,
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Let us allow our youthful nature and blind faith be reformed fully in Christ, to drink from the ocean of His mercy that never stops flowing and never stops cleansing us from our past sins, to be embraced in His love that never ends, and to give us all a new beginning.
Do yourself a favor child of Abraham; and let Christ have His way in your life, lest you be consumed by the new ways of the world.