Raising Young Kids in the Faith

How do we evangelize our young children? Dave “The Ransom Is Paid” VanVickle and I share our experience raising young kids in the faith and give you practical ways to share Christ with them so they grow up with a strong faith.

Shownotes


Snippet of the Show

“Don’t isolate your children from the world out of fear. Teach them to be the salt and light of the world, not to escape the world.”

Shownotes




Raising Young Kids in the Faith:

  • Start sharing the faith with your kids early. Don’t wait until you see red flags to share Christ with them. Christ should not be an emergency room doctor in the lives of your children.

  • Be a witness. Make sure you model holiness to your children, and also talk about the faith at home regularly.

  • Expose your children to a wide variety to Catholic traditions and spiritualities. Don’t impose your own spirituality on your children, allow them to build their own unique relationship with Christ.

  • Do not reduce Christianity to just morality or rules.

  • Explain the meaning behind all the things we do in regards to the faith. 

  • Foster a good grasp of the Kerygma. Try to incorporate the Gospel in family prayer.

  • Teach your children to navigate the world by holding onto the good in the world and avoiding the evil in the world. Don’t isolate your children from the world out of fear, teach them to bring the salt and light of Christ into the world, not to escape the world. Remind them that the world is worth living for and teach them to discern between good and evil in the world.

  • Implement natural discipline into their lives, discipline is needed in order to follow Christ.

  • Stop trying to meet every need and desire of your child.  Don’t try to keep them constantly entertained and busy. The Christian life is a fully human life, teach your children how to deal with being alone and how to deal with boredom. 



3 Practical Takeaways

  1. Learn about St.Philip Neri.
  2. Purchase  The Great Adventure Kids Catholic Bible Chronicles (ages 8-12).

    The Great Adventure Kids Catholic Bible Chronicles is designed to help children ages 8-12 understand the greatest story of all time. It features 70 stories carefully chosen to capture the story of salvation history in its entirety from Adam and Eve to Christ and the Apostles.
  3. Provide  moments of encounter to give your kids an opportunity to respond to Christ’s love. 

Resources

Meet Your Hosts


New Podcast from Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR: The Rosary in a Year!

Download the Prayer Plan!

 

Michael “Gomer” Gormley

Michael spent 17 years in full-time parish ministry and is now the Mission Evangelist for That Man Is You!, a men’s apostolate for Paradisus Dei. Michael is a frequent speaker at conferences, retreats, and parish missions all over the US and Canada.

He is the founder and creative director of LayEvangelist.com, and hosts three Catholic podcasts: Every Knee Shall Bow, Catching Foxes, and Becoming God.

Michael is married to his college sweetheart, Shannon, and has four beautiful and hilarious children: Kateri, Cecilia, Noah, and Thomas.

 

David “Dave” VanVickle

Dave VanVickle

Dave VanVickle fell in love with the Lord at the age of fourteen and has since dedicated his life to bringing others into a radical relationship with Christ.

He is a speaker and retreat leader who focuses on proclaiming the universal call to holiness, authentic Catholic spirituality, spiritual warfare and deliverance. Additionally, Dave has over ten years of experience assisting priests with their ministries of exorcism and deliverance.

Dave married his late wife Amber in 2010. He now resides in Pittsburgh with his five children: Sam, Max, Judah, Josie and Louisa.

2 Comments

  1. Oh my! I haven’t heard that song in such a long, long time! I used to sing that, too! Now I can’t get it out of my head! But that’s a good thing! I loved that song! Bring it back! LOL!

    Reply
  2. Thank you for this podcast, since quarantine my husband has not been with a lot of men talking as father’s do to each other about children. So he got to listen in while I took in everything about parenting my soon to be teenager son, Johnathan.

    Reply

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