From their tenderest years

Are children ever too young to start learning about the faith? Not according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is what it has to say about the duty of parents ...

Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church.³⁴ A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one's life.

Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. (CCC, 2225-6)

The aim of this blog is to help you to be the "first heralds" for your toddlers and preschoolers. The contributors are all Catholic mothers with young children of their own, and we will be sharing ideas and experiences from our own families. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us.