The Priority of Parents
Good parenting views children as “adults in the making.” Parents with this vision are always mindful of forming their children in virtue so they will flourish in their adult lives. Good faith formation is essential to this process as it gives the “end in mind” of character development – union with God for all of eternity!
As parish leaders, we should aim to do all we can to empower parents to form their children as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Parents have the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children” [2225] and “the role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute” [2221]. In fact, research shows that the father has the greatest influence on whether his adult children will be active in the Church or not. As Christian Smith discovered through his research in the National Study of Youth and Religion, “the best way to minister to children and teenagers is through their parents” [Christian Smith on the Faith of Young Adults, John Mulder].
FORMED gives parents the tools to form their children in the faith. Whether it is an inspiring family movie, children’s videos/audios, or YDisciple videos/discussion questions for teenagers, parents can access this great content in their homes and make faith sharing and prayer a habit as a family.
Discover all the new children’s programs, books, movies, and audio at formed.org.
It would be FANTASTIC if this was one of the editable parish flyers so that we can also reach out to our School and Religious Education families!
Hi Betty,
What type of information would a flyer like that have? We just added a new FORMED promo flyer on the Leaders Site today along with the Spanish version. Let me know what you think and how it could be customized for your use and we can see what we can do.
Hi ParishCare, I didn’t see a flyer with the children’s info, unless I missed it. What I’d envision for Betty is a flyer that would be sent home for the families at schools as well at CCD or even put in the bulletins for families (catching me as a homeschooler, too). It would highlight the new children’s programming (showing some of the specific options available), drawing parents to sign in for the children’s audios, videos, etc. for their children. It would also have some quotes from above, noting the CCC 2225 and 2221, for example. I think this would be wanted for each and every parish… many parents who don’t sign up for themselves will sign up for their kids… and then they may find themselves back for themselves, too! (If you do create this, let me know as I’ll be sharing with everyone I can…along with your family movie night flyer.)
Hi Jenetta, this is a great idea! We’re hoping to come out with even more children’s content in the near future, so we’ll definitely take that into consideration. Thank you for your suggestion!
Betty, did I have your idea right? 🙂