My Family is My Vocation

by Randy Hain | August 5, 2010 1:00 pm

Perhpas like some of you, Holy Family[1]I had serious workaholic tendencies in the early part of my career.  When my first son was two, I began working for my current company in the pursuit of a more balanced life.  But, it wasn’t until my wife and I entered the Catholic Church over four years ago that I truly understood my family is my vocation

Sounds great, but what does that mean?  Isn’t our career our “vocation”?  How do we accomplish this lofty goal? 

[2]I want to share with you five simple actions that my wife and I are trying very hard to pursue in raising our children.  We often fall short, but we keep trying because shirking our parenting responsibilities or delegating the job to others is not an option.  For your consideration:

The Catechism #2223 says,Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery – the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the ‘material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.’  Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them.”

We don’t have all the answers and some times we worry if we are doing enough.  But, our children are a gift from God and our marriage is a blessing so we keep trying and humbly asking Him for help and guidance.  They occasionally drive us crazy, but we are determined to not waste any of the precious hours we have with our children.  Our kids need us to rise to the challenge-their future, and ours, depends on it.  Imagine the impact families could make on our communities if we simply focused on building their faith in Christ, showing them love, teaching them strong values and then sent them into the world to do the same.  How would our world be different?  It is an incredible responsibility, but I can think of no greater calling!   

 

Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/wp-content/uploads/HolyFamily.jpg
  2. : http://www.stpeterchanel.org/integratedlife/images/2483.jpg
  3. www.childtrends.org: http://www.childtrends.org/

Source URL: https://integratedcatholiclife.org/2010/08/my-family-is-my-vocation/