Dominique, a fairly new parent, has not purposefully thought about how to set the Catholic foundation that will eventually impact her children’s personhood.
She said that the concept of raising “sexually whole and holy” children was far from her mind as she did not feel the need to address this aspect until the appropriate age.
However, Dominique said she came to having a deeper sense of appreciation for her role as a parent and all the tasks that they do from actively attending Mass and praying, to the everyday-ordinary-parental-routine activities that has God’s love written all over of it.
Let’s continue our discussion on raising whole and sexually holy children and its eight virtues, as we reveal the third virtue or ‘ingredient’ to you: faith.
What is faith? According to Greg and Lisa Popcak who authored Beyond the Birds and the Bees, “Faith is the openness of our hearts to divine love, and whole and holy sexuality is all about loving divinely—loving as God loves”. Faith is a gift that brings us into a personal, loving relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In regard to Catholic sexuality, faith allows us to be open to receive and offer love to others. Sexuality goes beyond teaching the biological facts of reproduction and abilities of self-discipline.
It is not merely a pure physical expression for procreative means. “It is really the way one soulful, mindful, noble and embodied person expresses him or herself to another soulful, mindful, noble and embodied person” (32, Popcak).
Let us all be reminded that the act of lovemaking is more than an expression of love between husband and wife, but a physical and sacramental experience of the all-powerful and consuming passion with which God Himself seeks to love us.
It is a prayer that allows us to give freely of ourselves for the good of another, bringing unity and new life into the world.
There are many things we can do in our families to ensure our children have a healthy personal life and one of those is a healthy prayer life. We can pray as a church community, meaning we celebrate the sacramental life of the Church and encounter Jesus, by connecting not only with our family but our larger family of faith.
We can pray from the heart at home with our families and model for our children how to be comfortable with prayer that encourages them to know Christ, wherever they may journey.
We can also experience and serve God in our routines, from cleaning the kitchen to doing homework with your children to making love with your spouse.
To understand that the Catholic foundation will impact our children’s worldview, behaviours and approach is vital in nurturing the person to become who God meant them to be.
In all that we do, in all that we are, we are a product of God’s divine love and great is our faithfulness to Him.
Visit aflcrc.org and our social media platforms – @familylifecommission or WhatsApp 299-1047 as we seek to educate parents about healthy and age-appropriate sex and sexuality conversations with their children.