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Voices Online Edition
Vol. XIX No. 4 - Advent/Christmas 2004

Book Review: Beyond "Good Example"

How to Raise Good Catholic Children
Mary Reed Newland
(originally published 50 years ago as We and Our Children)
Sophia Institute Press 2004.
For ordering information call 1-800-888-9344 or visit www.sophiainstitute.com.
224 pp., paperback.

Reviewed by Nora Malone

Catholic parents may be committed to fulfilling their God-given duty to educate their children in the Faith, but they may still be missing countless opportunities to teach their children the Church's prayers and tenets and to instill in them a deep love for God, a continual attentiveness to His presence, and the ability to make decisions in accord with His will.

Mary Reed Newland's How to Raise Good Catholic Children opens our eyes to these opportunities and offers parents proven ways to form their children in the Faith while deepening their own spiritual awareness. Originally written in the 1950s and reprinted recently by Sophia Institute Press, it speaks refreshingly of the Faith as the center of life, in contrast to the current tendency to see the Faith as little more than something practiced for an hour each Sunday. But only when the Faith is the center of our lives can we teach our children to love their heavenly Father, to "see that their world is full of blessings straight from the hand of God", and to make responsible decisions in all areas of their lives.

Newland, the mother of seven, knew how to make the Faith fun, simply by seeing and celebrating God's love in all aspects of life. In teaching her children about the Creation and God's eternal plan, for instance, she showed how, in making the first goat, God already had in mind their own goat, whose funny bleating the children were fond of imitating. She introduced the game "What shall I think about before I go to sleep?" in which she encouraged her children to imagine themselves with the Holy Family in Nazareth -- a simple form of mental prayer. She marked feast days with games, family rites, and special meals and desserts.

What made a great impact on me was that, as I got caught up in Newland's delightful insights, I couldn't help but develop a deeper attentiveness to the presence of God in every moment. That deeper spiritual awareness has been a great help to me in sharing the Faith with my daughter. For when parents begin to see God's continuous presence and their lives begin to reflect that awareness, they're able set an example for their children that has more impact than the most eloquent catechism lesson. As Saint Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Faith. When necessary, use words".

But Catholicism isn't all cakes and games. We have to teach our children those aspects of the Faith that children don't often think of as fun: prayers, keeping the Commandments, the family Rosary, attending Mass. But Newland shows how these can be fun or at least offers motivating reasons for children to bear the difficult and the boring out of love for God.

Moreover Newland goes beyond the basics of teaching children to recite prayers and keep the Commandments. She shows how to teach children to pray, and to "pray always". She illustrates how to form in them habits of holiness and a love for virtue. She explains how to help children participate in the Mass and the sacraments. The seasons of the Church's liturgical calendar as well as everyday work and play take on a new meaning as she demonstrates how to teach children to live each day in God.

Newland's experience in teaching the Faith to her own children wasn't without its challenges. Her children faced the same difficulties and got into the same mischief that almost all children do. But Newland shows parents how to use even these challenges to raise their children's minds and hearts to God.

How to Raise Good Catholic Children is an indispensable resource for parents who are serious about raising saints. And as they read and implement the suggestions in the book, parents will no doubt experience a deepening of their own love for God and a greater awareness of His loving presence.

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Nora Malone, who lives in Milford, Connecticut, is the stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old daughter.

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