Misleading Children

Demographics and statistics show an interesting trend over the past few decades. Apparently more and more young women of various Christian flavors are accepting the world's view of femininity more than God's view and they are getting less and less comfortable with traditional Christian truth. At the same time, more and more young men are rejecting the world's view of women and turning to the way that God has always described femininity (both before and after the coming of our Lord in the first century).

As the world rejects the Church's traditional understanding of male headship in the home, and male-only clergy in the Church, many women are turning away from this and seeking (essentially) an egalitarian home and Church. When the Church keeps her position and refuses to budge, these same women are turning away from the Church because they still believe that they need to be a "modern woman", and the men are coming back to Church (after, for many of them, being away from it for a long time).

I have heard more than one man tell me that there are so few women that hold to the traditional Catholic view in their understanding of the family, and that it seems that whenever there is one "the traditional guys gather around like sharks on an injured seal" (as one young man said to me a few months back). It is one of the most significant consequences of the devil's promotion of so-called "women's rights" as he worked to destroy the family; if less women hold to the traditional faith, then less of them will be available to the men who are ready to practice it.

The statistics that I read say that this is more prominent in non-catholic circles than in Catholic, but I have heard about and seen when it happens in a Catholic parish; we are not immune from experiencing it. I do think, however, that there has been a "good" push with the frustrations that many traditional Catholics have with certain comments and actions of the Holy Father. It has caused many (both men and women) to seek to return to their roots, and find what the Catholic faith actually teaches. Thus, we can say that non-catholic Christians do not have the wonderful blessing of a Pope that causes confusion!

What are we to do to remedy this situation? The responsibility of priests is clear: they are to teach the truth and help all to know what God has revealed; most especially about marriage and family. The responsibility on parents is just as clear, but even more direct: they are to teach their children what has been given to us (just a quick reading of the Trent Catechism on the Sacrament of Matrimony is helpful -- there is no reasonable way to twist it to defend any kind of egalitarianism).

Parents, if you realize you learned wrong (and therefore taught wrong), then repent. Admit it to your children and help them to see what the truth is; their very souls are at stake here. Make sure that you have not swallowed a worldly view of the family (just because you are used to it does not make it correct!). This last Sunday's Gospel reading warns about the dangers of misleading children -- if it applies to anything, it certainly applies to how they live the Catholic faith in their future homes!