A roadmap for creating your own holy family

February is the Month of the Holy Family—a time to reflect upon the three people we can seek solace from in times of turmoil and share joy with in times of happiness. They are the ones we should strive to emulate, especially as we work to make our families holy and bring each member closer to God.

Every member of the Holy Family had a vital role to play, just as every member of our family has a vital role to play.

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, came to earth as a tiny baby, born into the loving home and care of Mary and Joseph. He demonstrated obedience, taught, performed miracles, and eventually died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins.

Mary, His mother and our spiritual mother, changed the world with her “Yes!” to God. Her fiat illustrated how we too can and should say yes to God.

Not a one single word by Joseph is recorded in the Bible, yet his actions taught us more than mere words ever could. Though he must have felt confused and maybe even scared by many of the situations he found himself in, he trusted God and did as the angel of the Lord asked him.

Today’s world may have different problems and seemingly bigger obstacles, but the work of the devil to separate us from God was as strong then, as it is now. He has other methods of doing so.

Life can be incredibly hard, and even the Holy Family encountered times of uncertainty, times of fear, and times of sorrow. But we can be sure that there was never a time when they would have given up on each other, uttered unkind words, or put anything above their faith.

Thus, the Holy Family should serve as our model for how to raise our children, for how to treat our spouses, and for how to grow closer to God. Those are the goals that inspire every lesson created by American Life League’s Culture of Life Studies Program—a pre-K-12 pro-life education program for homes and schools. CLSP helps build that foundation of faith that every family needs as they walk the path to eternity with God.

CLSP’s standalone lessons guide you and your children through the difficult conversations about today’s salient topics; they provide discussion questions and answers and give you the information you need so that you can help children grow in their faith. In addition, our saints lessons help kids befriend and understand these amazing men and women. We explain that the saints struggled and sinned. They may have even done terrible things. But we teach that God is merciful and that striving for sainthood is something we must all do.

Education at home is crucial, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that parents have this responsibility:

In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica. It is in the bosom of the family that parents are “by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation.”

A strong education in the faith will help children grow to be faithful adults who will hopefully pass along the faith to their children. Yet as many brokenhearted parents know, some children fall away no matter what their parents do, how they teach, or how they model the faith.

This is just one of the many obstacles the devil throws into our lives in the hopes of causing despair, anger, and frustration. It is his hope that we become so angry with God that we turn our backs on Him. In times of sadness and difficulty, it’s all too easy to believe the lies that God has forgotten about us, that He isn’t listening, or that He doesn’t care.

And when we believe this, the devil rejoices.

But if we look at the example of the Holy Family, we will realize that life wasn’t perfect even for our Savior. And so we must follow their example and teach. We must make faith a part of our daily lives and model the love that we have for God.

As most parents know, it’s not enough to send our kids to Catholic schools or to send them to CCE classes. We must integrate faith into every aspect of our home lives. We know this can be hard to do, as parents must compete with after-school events, social media, phones, and other worldly distractions. So we have to be louder than these voices. We have to take concrete steps to make our families holy.

That’s why programs such as CLSP are so valuable. They help parents become the heralds of the faith that God calls them to be. They help parents work toward making their families holy and their homes a sacred space. Building a holy family takes the effort of everyone in the family, and it requires communication, understanding, love, and a willingness to open our hearts to God.

If we could take a step back 2,000-plus years and get a glimpse at life in Christ’s home, we would see unimaginable love, tenderness, kindness, and understanding. Most of all, we would see unwavering faith. All of these characteristics and more are things that we must model in our families. But our kids won’t learn these habits and virtues if we don’t explicitly teach them.

So as we contemplate the Holy Family this month, let us think about how we can use their example to strengthen our own faith and to teach it to our children. And let us acknowledge that there are steps we must take within our own homes to fortify our families against the devil and his evil works so that we can spend eternity with God in heaven.

Our challenge today is to model our lives after Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. A faith-filled family starts with the parents. And that requires authentic Catholic education for everyone in the family.