Raise Your Kids to Be Saints

It’s possible even today to raise children to be saints.  A case in point is Carlo Acutis.

Later this month the Catholic Church will canonize Carlo.  For those not familiar with Carlo, he was an Italian teenager who died from leukemia two decades ago at the age of 15.

With Carlo being proclaimed the first “millennial” saint, parents today might want to ponder, “Hmmm, I wonder if my kid could ever be a Saint?”

Blessed Carlo was known for his devotion to Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, which he catalogued on a website he designed.

Some other well-known young Saints prior to him include siblings Saint Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Saint Maria Goretti.  All three died when only 10 or 11 years-old.

All of these youngsters can serve to inspire children to live a life of holiness. Moreover, they should also encourage parents to contemplate if they are doing everything they can to model godly behavior as they raise their sons and daughters.

St. Therese of Lisieux

Known by her nickname “The Little Flower,” Therese of Lisieux died at the age of 24. She was made a Saint but not because of unbelievable acts she performed in her life or a multitude of miracles attributed to her after she died. Her sainthood was due to how loving and devoted to God she was throughout her short life. She followed St. Paul’s directive, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

What was remarkable wasn’t just that Therese was made a Saint, but that her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, also were canonized – the first time a married couple achieved this honor. At their canonization in 2015, Pope Francis stated, “The holy spouses (Louis and Zelie) practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters.”

Catholic parents would do well to follow the example of Therese’s mom and dad. They demonstrated how a loving couple witnesses for their kids what commitment and sacrificial love look like, whether times are joyful or miserable. They also showed the importance of creating a family atmosphere that relies on faith in God as the one thing that draws all members together in good times and bad.

Michelle Duppong

Currently being considered for future canonization is Michelle Duppong.  Michell is a former Catholic missionary who died in 2015 at the age of 31. Her parents shared this advice for fellow parents on how to best assure their children will grow up properly and piously:

“If you use bad language, they will use bad language. If you go to Mass, they see you do that and they will do that in the future. Everything you do, they watch. And that is probably the best thing you can do: give them a good example.”

You might think it would be setting an impossible standard if we declared Jesus’s words to our kids when raising them, “So be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). When we use Jesus’s statement to set the highest goal possible to achieve, we are pushing our children to strive for more than the easy attitude of, “I’m good enough.”

Perfection

The great Catholic theologian Saint John Henry Newman defined “perfection” as not necessarily meaning the execution of extraordinary acts, but more often the accomplishment of doing life’s ordinary tasks and duties well. He created a list of simple yet vital, regular acts that, if carried out, would help one grow in perfection and holiness. The list – called the “Short Road to Perfection” – contains admirable goals for our kids and us parents to strive to habitually achieve.

• Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising and at night go to bed in good time.

When explaining why it’s important to jump out of bed the first time your alarm goes off, Saint Josemaría Escriva once said, “Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a fixed time, without yielding a single minute to laziness. If, with God’s help, you conquer yourself, you will be well ahead for the rest of the day. It’s so discouraging to find oneself beaten at the first skirmish!”

• Give your first thoughts to God.

We may not be able to think about God for every minute of the day, but we can at least give Him the very first minute of the day. Praying a morning offering within minutes of waking is a beneficial and virtuous act.

• Make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

Jesus Christ is fully present in the Eucharist in all the tabernacles of the world. It may be impossible to get to a church daily, but on at least a monthly basis it is very possible to attend Eucharistic Adoration at your parish.

• Say the Rosary well and say the Angelus devoutly.

We all know about the importance of praying the Rosary. It can be added into one’s daily schedule of tasks. The Angelus prayer is even “easier” to pray. It’s a famous Catholic devotion that recounts God’s plan for Mary’s life.

• Eat and drink to God’s glory.

When we eat and drink without a thought about how God has provided, we are no better than animals who devour whatever is thrown before them. A great way to bring Christ into your food is to always give thanks before eating.

• Make your evening meditation well, which includes examining how your day went.

Just as the day began with giving good thoughts to God, it should end in the same way.  A nightly examen of how the day went and what improvements we resolve to make tomorrow is a good habit to grow.

Raising Saints

Moms and dads, sons and daughters cannot achieve moral perfection – nor did Carlo Acutis or Michelle Duppong. However, we and our youngsters can obey Catholic teaching and set Christ’s standard as the way to live our daily lives.

By doing this, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we will find the strength to love our enemies, overcome sinful thoughts and actions, and follow the commands throughout Scripture and in Church doctrine.

Our goal as parents is to raise saints. Nothing else is as important in our job description as helping our children get to Heaven.

Our sons and daughters might not get canonized as capital-S ‘Saints’ in the future.  Even so, they all have large potential to become small-s saints. We just need to help them strive for perfection, modeled by our exemplary Christian living as their mothers and fathers and carried out through righteous, daily tasks we set for our families to accomplish.

“Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it.” (Proverbs 22:6).