The most important thing

I’m writing this on a Sunday, which, in the Catholic Church, is a day of rest. We attend church Sunday mornings with our sons and often feel, when we’re home, anything but revived and refreshed. Today, neither of us managed to catch the Gospel reading or homily. It was a series of carrying, fetching snacks and water, entertaining with coloring pages and chasing up and down aisles. We’ve tried splitting them up or taking turns attending mass alone, but have decided that going together as a family is what we truly want. When you take into account Sunday school(before church) and social hour(after church), we spend almost four hours there. While we do not feel rested on Sundays, I was reflecting on how this is the most important day of the week for us nonetheless. And that’s because teaching our children about God and the Church are the most important things we can teach them. It is obvious, but also easy to forget when your patience is so tried after an hour wrangling little kids, trying to keep them from completely distracting everyone else in the church. I have to constantly remind myself that I am doing the right thing in taking them and letting them experience mass in their own way, on their own timeline. Even if they don’t show any signs of it yet, I know they are building their understanding and relationship with God with each Sunday that passes. Our ultimate goal is to get them to heaven, so, for us, this, taking them to Church, letting them hear the word of God, is the most important thing.