Raising Them Catholic

I have two sons, I’m Catholic, and I don’t really know what I’m doing.

We were camping this past weekend in a little town not far from our own. On Saturday I returned from grocery shopping and asked if anyone wanted to come to church with me. I told my oldest he could make a wish whenever he goes to a new church and that seemed to do the trick.

“Besides,” I said, “it’s hot, so the priest probably won’t give us a long homily.”

Boy, was I wrong.

He had a soft voice and undulating cadence, and it wasn’t long before my head was snapping up at regular intervals. I chanced a look to my left, and my son was deep in prayer. I felt a little guilty about it considering I was the one who wanted to go and he was the one utilizing his time to communicate with God.

He must have felt me looking at him because his eyes opened a little. He leaned close to me and whispered, “I just made my wish. It’s a great one.”

I smiled and pulled him a little closer to me. We held hands to say the Our Father and whispered jokes about the older cantor’s unexpectedly powerful voice. “If God has a rock band this guy would definitely be the lead singer.” It suddenly wasn’t so bad sitting there in the heat on those creaky pews.

We got back to the campsite and when I put my younger son to bed we prayed. “Should we pray to Mary?” he asked.

I didn’t know what he meant at first; he has a cousin named Mary, but I suddenly remembered last weekend when he couldn’t sleep. I said a rosary and he listened and it must have made an impression because now he’s requesting Hail Marys.

The next day would be Pentecost Sunday, the day when the Holy Spirit gave Jesus’ disciples the power to speak in tongues, to better communicate and understand the messages and lessons of Christ. Maybe the Holy Spirit came to me too. Maybe my sons do understand me.

“So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2011&version=NASB)

Or maybe it just whispered, “You’re doing fine.”

-Mike Sposito

Owner Spowerks LLC