Copyright © 2011 St. John of the Desert Melkite Catholic Church. All Rights Reserved.
For Our Parents
Many parents have not or do not register their children in our Eastern Christian Religious Education (Sunday School Formation classes). How do you expect them to gain an appreciation for their Christian faith according to our venerable Melkite tradition? As an example, over half the children in our parish are not enrolled. Why? Do you want our tradition to die out with your generation? It will if our children do not understand the 2,000 year old treasure they have been given. It will end with you! Just sending your children to Roman (Latin) Catholic schools is not sufficient. These schools are only too happy to make your children Latin. Your children will see no need to make the effort to belong to the Melkite community. Perhaps they will attend the local Roman Catholic parish where what they have learned is practiced and will find the Melkite Church to be rather strange. Children are a treasure given to us by God. They are not our possession, but rather on loan to us as they will someday begin their own families. If they see no reason to come to the Melkite Church, our church will fade away. In fact it is already fading away since so many parents won't make the effort to participate with their children in our Melkite churches. May God bless those parents who do make the effort to enroll their children and bring them consistently each week and may God bless our catechists who give so much of their time and love to these children.
Many parents have not or do not register their children in our Eastern Christian Religious Education (Sunday School Formation classes). How do you expect them to gain an appreciation for their Christian faith according to our venerable Melkite tradition? As an example, over half the children in our parish are not enrolled. Why? Do you want our tradition to die out with your generation? It will if our children do not understand the 2,000 year old treasure they have been given. It will end with you! Just sending your children to Roman (Latin) Catholic schools is not sufficient. These schools are only too happy to make your children Latin. Your children will see no need to make the effort to belong to the Melkite community. Perhaps they will attend the local Roman Catholic parish where what they have learned is practiced and will find the Melkite Church to be rather strange. Children are a treasure given to us by God. They are not our possession, but rather on loan to us as they will someday begin their own families. If they see no reason to come to the Melkite Church, our church will fade away. In fact it is already fading away since so many parents won't make the effort to participate with their children in our Melkite churches. May God bless those parents who do make the effort to enroll their children and bring them consistently each week and may God bless our catechists who give so much of their time and love to these children.
By Fr. James Babcock (Modified)
