In connection to the above. Parenting is brute hard work, there is no getting around that. Parents today, due to all the technology, are tempted to say to themselves that if children are occupied with something, then I can relax and focus on what I would like to do. I would encourage parents to take the brute hard work path. Children in church do not need toys, books, and food. These are good for us parents but disastrous to our children as they learn to be in church occupied with anything but church. Parents and on lookers also enjoy the “cute factor” very common in modern society. Our children are not in church be cute, they are full members of the Church and deserve and need to be taught and disciplined. That is a sacred task indeed! Our children need to be in church, as it is the single greatest manner in which our children become transformed and integrated into the life of the Church.

Our children will rise to the expectations given to them, and indeed, children are looking for guidance and instruction. In time, with good instruction and discipline, the church becomes ingrained in our children and they begin to love it and make it their own.

A question to consider, when do we take away the toys, books and snacks in church? While they may not have these items, as they grow older, other things will distract both the parents and the children. When that happens our young people typically leave the Church, as it never became theirs.

The greatest gift we can give our Children is the Church! I ask God to bless all our parents as they strive to take on this difficult and sacred task of raising their children in the Church.