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Usually, we think of our Christian faith as a personal relationship between an individual and God.  Certainly, it is that but it is not exclusively that.  We need to remember that our faith needs to grow within the family.

 All of us come from homes, we live in homes, and some among us look forward to establishing their own homes.  This means that the success and happiness of our individual lives are deeply dependent upon the fate and fortunes of our family.

For that matter, so is the future of our world.  What happens in the home in large measure determines what happens on the streets, in the offices, in the factories, and in the halls of     government.  Don’t be too quick to discount that old saying, “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”

The importance of the family becomes even clearer when we remember the vital role that children play.  So often we have called them “the leaders of tomorrow” that has become a truism, and we tend to forget how true it really is.  In just a few short years, these young people will be holding the reins of all our institutions.   Today, they are students; tomorrow, they will be administrators and teachers.  Today, they are dependent on so many.  Tomorrow, all the wheels of industry and business will be depending upon them.  Today, they are only children, playing in our streets.  Tomorrow they will hold government offices at every level.

This means that the future of everything we care about depends upon the character of our children.  For myself, I don’t know anything better to build character out of than our Christian faith, the Ten Commandments, and the Gospel of Jesus.

Remember, the importance of family becomes evident when we recall that life’s vital truths are more caught than taught.  There are some vital lessons that primarily involve the transfer of facts from parent to child.

So it is with our Christian faith.  It is passed from life to life.  If our children will ever posses a strong and meaningful relationship with God, it will come to them mainly from their family.  So if faith in God has to be caught, home is the most logical place for that to happen.  The Church can help, the school can help, friends and neighbors can help.  But mainly, it will be the values and principles of the family that children catch at home that go deepest and last longest.

We need to recognize that parents are teaching their children something about God and faith whether they intend to or not.  They are conveying to the children some kind of attitude toward the Church and our Christian faith.  By our actions, week after week, we tell them that these matters are important or trivial, so our Christian faith is a family affair; and there is no substitute for it.