Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 372 – Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 372 – Part III. How do parents respect their children?

(Youcat answer - repeated) God entrusted children to parents so that they might be steady, righteous examples for those children, that they might love and respect them and do everything possible so that their children can develop physically and spiritually.

A deepening through CCC

(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.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Children are a gift from God and not the property of the parents. Before they are their parents’ children, they are God’s children. The primary duty of parents is to present to their children the Good News and to communicate the Christian faith to them.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2226) Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God (Cf. LG 11). The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.  

(This question: How do parents respect their children? is continued)