When my son was born, I was overcome with pure joy. My son was finally in my arms and we were both safe. I was also overcome with a sense of purpose..
Being a parent is more than just watching your child grow, it is a vocation, or a calling to bring up strong followers of Christ. This formation in the faith is not something that should be put off for when they get older. Instead, it is important to make sure that your child is raised around the Christain faith so that it can be “written in their hearts”.
Here are 4 easy ways to introduce Christainity to your infants.
Read the Bible to Them:
Experts say that if we want our children to learn to love to read, we must read to them. Continuing on that, if we want our children to love reading the Bible, we must read the Bible to them! I am personally quite the bibliophile and love to read. What better book to start our children on than the Bible?
I love reading the Bible to my little man as a bedtime story. Right now, I will often read directly from my copy of the Bible. However, there are also many board book Bibles that you can have for your children with beautiful illustrations to help keep their attention and are a little more difficult to destroy than your paper Bible (my little boy loves the sound of the paper crumpling).
In addition to the Bible, I will read other stories either inspired by the Bible, or saints. These stories provide examples of how to live our lives in faith. I cried my way through reading the Three Trees to my son two weeks postpartum. Even if your little one falls asleep before the story ends, go ahead and finish the story! My mom tells about a church she used to attend where they used to read Bible stories to the infants as they slept.
Praying with Them:
I am ashamed to admit that I do not spend as much time in prayer as I should. However, making sure that you pray with your baby is important to help develop their faith (and will help develop your faith too!).
Before my son began to eat solid foods, it seemed like he always got hungry during the family’s meal times. This was perfect! We would still sit together, bless our food, and then all dig in. Now that he has started solid foods, it is much easier. He is beginning to learn that we pray before a meal and will smile as we pray.
In addition to a table blessing, I like to pray with my son at bedtime. The bedtime prayers can be something as simple as the Guardian Angel Prayer, and thanking God for the day, or as complex as a decade of the Rosary.
Sing Christian Lullabies:
I still fondly remember the lullabies my mom and dad used to sing to me when I was little. They became so much a part of my life that, even now, if I am feeling upset, I will find myself humming them. This tradition is something that I am continuing with my son. Whenever he is not feeling well or having trouble sleeping, I will rub his back and sing Christian songs to him. My go-to has been Silent Night, but I will also sing Bring Flowers of the Fairest for him at times (just the chorus…sadly that is all I know by heart).
Bring them to Church:
I think this is the most important key to raising Christian children. Jesus says in the Bible, “Let the children come to me”. Church is where our family of God is fed and grows. Even at a young age, our children are learning what the prayers and the sounds mean. My little man knows the sound of the priest’s voice, the sounds of the Bible being read, the sounds of the music (he likes to watch me as I sing and will sometimes even “sing” along with his baby coos!) and the sound of the bells. Raising our children to join us at church helps teach them that they should be comfortable and even excited to go to God’s House.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to get ready for church in time. Or sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to bring your little one with you to the church. However, it is still important that we make our best attempts to be at church every Sunday. These are the habits that we start teaching our children at a young age which will become pivotal both as they get older and when they eventually become adults on their own.
The Priest in my parish always points out that children are the lifeblood of the church. In his words, “If a church isn’t crying, it’s dying”. They will only learn how to act in church if they are in church.
In the end, the best way to teach our children our faith is by living it. As Christians, we should make our faith a part of who we are. By reading to our children, singing to them, praying with them, and bringing them with us to church, we are teaching them by example how to live their lives as Christians.
Our little ones learn to speak and how to act by watching and learning by the example we set. We need to make sure that we set the example as to how our children should be as christians.
Mommy's Prayer 