Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Eph 6, 4a Do not provoke your children to anger

(Eph 6, 4a) Do not provoke your children to anger
[4a] Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
(CCC 2221) The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. "The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute" (GE 3). The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable (Cf. FC 36). (CCC 2222) Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God's law. (CCC 2225) Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church (LG 11 § 2). A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one's life.

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