God has No Grandchildren

Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Go to weekday mass at any Catholic church in America and there will be older Catholics on their knees praying. And, most of them will tell you that they are praying for their children who have left the faith and especially their grandchildren who will never be exposed to Jesus and the story of his life, death and resurrection; of redemption and salvation.

Their adult children, who sometime between high school and college graduation, have decided that Christianity wasn’t for them, are raising their kids, our grandchildren, without any Christian training.

“We will let them decide when they are adults,” is the rationale for their agnostic or atheist views. They wouldn’t wait until their kids were adults and “let them decide” if playing in traffic or getting their immunizations, or attending school was for them. No, they make every decision from what brand of diapers to what school they will attend, but just don’t have the same regard for religious training.

What they don’t comprehend is that there is no neutral. If they don’t raise their children with some spiritual or religious moral compass, then they are raising them as atheists. If children have no religions training, then how could they ever decide as adults that Christianity is or isn’t for them?

Thank God, that many adult children who have left the faith are still using the Christian “moral compass” they received to raise their kids, simply rejecting everything about the faith that they don’t like. They celebrate Christmas and Easter, but it is Santa and the Easter bunny and not the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

The grandparent on his or her knees realizes, however difficult, that our grandchildren can’t get to heaven on our coat tails. There is no way around it; we either have our own faith or no faith at all.

Our responsibility to God is a personal relationship. Through that relationship, we become His sons and daughters. Each of us, individually, there are no spiritual grandchildren. Our grand kids cannot be saved by the faith of their grandparents. They must become God’s sons and daughters by their own relationship.

Scary, you bet. Heartbreaking, absolutely!

So, what can we do? What can we say? How can we stop feeling so powerless? Has the Lord given us any reason for hope?

[pullquote]”First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” — 1 Timothy2:1[/pullquote]

We must be an example of God’s love. Our grandchildren must see that there is something different, something beautiful and desirable about the way grandma and grandpa live their lives. In first Timothy we read that God “wills everyone be saved,” and we must trust that God will provide the opportunity, if we simply provide the example.
We must remain faithful. That means taking the time to go to mass on Sunday, even if alone, to convey the importance of mass and the Eucharist. Don’t allow your adult children’s lack of faith have a negative effect on your commitment to Jesus and His church.

[pullquote]“Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” Acts 16:30-31[/pullquote]

If asked, take the opportunity to share your faith in some small way. After all, if our adult children really want our grandchildren to decide when they are adults, then a little exposure to Christianity when compared to their daily dose of atheism shouldn’t be too much to ask. If they object, it gives you an opportunity, in a loving way, to question why? It might make for some interesting conversation.

As grandparents, we love our grandchildren more than life itself. We want only the best for them. We want them to know and love our savior Jesus Christ.

But, remember so do their parents! We need to pray for them as well, knowing that God wants a relationship with them too. And, since we raised them in the faith, we pray that the love, kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness that they learned will be passed along to our grandchildren.

Remain faithful, be an example, share your faith and never stop praying.

The rest is up to God.

If you enjoyed this reflection, might also like My Children Have Lost the Faith from the archives. And, you can have all of the new reflections emailed to you every Monday morning, and not miss a single one. Subscribe by clicking here. You will be sent an e-mail to verify your subscription. Just click on the link and you’re all set.

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