Story by Joe Pisani
It took a lifetime for me to realize one of the greatest gifts my mother gave me was my faith. Every Sunday, she took me to church … by herself. She taught me my prayers, and she told me to turn to God when things got bad.
Looking back, we must have been quite a pair in the back pew, just the two of us. At the time, it never seemed odd to be there with her, while my friends were accompanied by both parents.
You see, my father never went to church. To his thinking, he had more important stuff to do. He went to work, he ran errands, he puttered around the yard, he did a lot of things, except go to Mass. So my mother picked up the slack and did what she had to. She made sure I realized how important Sunday Mass was.
Faith is something money can’t buy, faith is something intelligence can’t ensure. Fortunately, faith is readily available to anyone who wants it and anyone who asks for it.
My mother took Sunday worship so seriously that she always arranged for me to go even when she couldn’t take me. After major surgery, she was laid up for months. That didn’t mean I could sit home and watch cartoons or play ball with my friends, because she had a Plan B — and sent me to Sunday services with our neighbors, who were Southern Baptists. Admittedly, that was a bit of culture shock. The services lasted a lot longer. I did more singing than ever, and I listened to lengthy sermons, but it was a rewarding ecumenical experience.
Today, I’ll occasionally look around church during Mass and see a mother with her child, which brings back memories.
Of course, many people go to Mass alone because they have no one to accompany them. They may be divorced, they may be single parents, they may be widowed, or perhaps their spouse doesn’t think it’s important.
Still others — some in my own family — stopped going altogether because their husbands or wives don’t go. As a result, their kids don’t go either. That’s a troubling sign of spiritual neglect. Even more troubling are the family members and friends who say their kids can decide when they get older what they want to do about their faith. That’s a cop-out. It’s an abrogation of their responsibility because parents are supposed to show children the way, not leave them wandering aimlessly in a confused world without introducing them to God.
I still remember the shock I felt when my friend’s young son returned home from school one afternoon and asked, “Mommy, who is God?” All I could think was, “Where has Mommy been all these years?”
The boy’s parents didn’t introduce him to God, but fortunately someone at school did. I suspect that was the Holy Spirit at work. Acquainting children with Jesus at the earliest possible age is the best thing you can do. Say prayers with them, take them to church, and encourage them to talk to Jesus often — every day and every moment because that friendship will sustain them through the trials and confusion of life.
I’m convinced that mothers (and fathers) who do that have a special place in Heaven. And parents who pray for their kids’ spiritual well being can be assured those prayers will be answered. They’re like a spiritual insurance policy to shield their children during the crises and challenges they’ll encounter.
The most important obligation a parent has is to instruct their children in the faith, pray for them and pray with them, and lead them on their journey.
I know many grandparents who fulfill that role for their grandchildren because the parents neglect it. So often I’ve heard college students in my classes pay homage to their grandparents for their role in raising them. They watched them and consoled them. They picked them up from school and they took them to church.
Sadly, many grandparents have heavy hearts because the children they raised in the faith have fallen away. However, it’s important to remember that when we pray to the Blessed Mother for our children, she will always keep them under her protective mantle, so never give up hope for your children or your spouse.
I should add that in my father’s last years, a priest visited our home every week to hear his confession and give him Holy Communion. You see, someone had been praying for him all those years … and those prayers were answered.