{"id":42494,"date":"2013-11-21T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=42494"},"modified":"2013-11-21T08:00:52","modified_gmt":"2013-11-21T14:00:52","slug":"part-4-6-pope-francis-parenthood-importance-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/part-4-6-pope-francis-parenthood-importance-admission\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 4 of 6 – Pope Francis, Parenthood, and the Importance of Admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope<\/a>By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them. (Cathechism of the Catholic Church, 2223)<\/em><\/p>\n

Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis has given parents yet another tip \u00a0– admitting our failings to our children. \u00a0One of the common themes of Pope Francis has been that he consistently has stated that he is a sinner. \u00a0All too often, we parents forget that one of the most important things we can show our children is that we are not perfect – that we sin or have sinned and that we are in need of a Savior, in need of forgiveness. \u00a0We have the opportunity to show them this in our everyday lives. \u00a0As the Church teaches in the Catechism, this admission, this acknowledgment of our guilt actually makes us better able to guide and correct our children. \u00a0It seems counterintuitive. \u00a0However, in our experience with our children, it has turned out to be true for several reasons:<\/p>\n

1. When we acknowledge our failings, we show our children that we do not expect perfection from them. \u00a0We expect humility. \u00a0The best way to teach this is to lead by example. \u00a0Our example provides the children some level of comfort in admitting their own failings to us. \u00a0If our children believe that we are perfect and if they are concerned about what we think of them, when they fail and recognize their own lack of perfection, they may tend to try to hide that failing from us – or even deny it. \u00a0If they have seen us admit to our own failings, on the other hand, they, over time, will feel more comfortable admitting them to us.<\/p>\n

2. When we acknowledge our failings to our children, we show them the best way to reconcile with people we love. \u00a0When they see us quickly admit that we have lost our temper with them or mishandled their correction and when we follow that admission with asking for forgiveness, we model for them the key to all healing in relationships involving fallen people. \u00a0All reconciliation begins with admitting to guilt and then asking for forgiveness. The key here is to “name it and claim it”. \u00a0We must specifically name how we failed. \u00a0Instead of just saying, “I’m sorry for losing my temper”; we should say, “when you didn’t pick up your plate and put it in the sink, I yelled at you. \u00a0That was wrong. \u00a0I should have spoken more carefully. \u00a0For that, I ask for your forgiveness. \u00a0Will you forgive me?” \u00a0Then, make them say, “I forgive you.” \u00a0Over time, you’ll see them quickly adopt this themselves. \u00a0Maybe even at the moment. \u00a0In this circumstance, not infrequently, we will see the child say in response, “I was wrong for not picking up my plate and putting it in the sink. \u00a0Will you forgive me?” \u00a0Our admission of guilt begins the teaching process.<\/p>\n

3. When we acknowledge our failings, we actually point them to the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance. \u00a0Ultimately, our daily lives and our living out of the mystery of parenthood helps us better understand the Church as a family. \u00a0By admitting our guilt specifically, asking for forgiveness, and then allowing them to see how quickly peace can be restored to a broken relationship in our own family, we become a sign of what happens in God’s family. \u00a0We should point out that in our family, in any family – in fact, in every family – people fail and that failure negatively impacts the family as a whole. \u00a0It breaks or damages relationships. \u00a0The way to restore the relationship is to admit to our failure and ask for forgiveness. \u00a0When they experience this reality over time concretely in our family, we can point to the fact that we are in God’s family and our sin and failures impact his family as well. \u00a0In the same way, we must go to the Father through the Son made present sacramentally in the priest, name our failing (our sin) specifically, ask for forgiveness, and then hear the forgiveness of the Father through the priest. \u00a0Ultimately, our goal is not just to have a peaceful home; it is to get us all to heaven. \u00a0Family life points us to life in the Church – God’s family.<\/p>\n

So, for the next couple of weeks, challenge \u00a0yourself to admit your failings to your children and see if Pope Francis’s example doesn’t bear fruit within your family as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them. (Cathechism of the Catholic Church, 2223) Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis has given parents yet another tip \u00a0– admitting our failings to our children. \u00a0One of the common themes of Pope Francis has… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[671],"tags":[55,127,2890,1708,720,165,1505,2089,1319],"class_list":{"0":"post-42494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-column","7":"tag-catholic-2","8":"tag-children","9":"tag-family","10":"tag-mystery","11":"tag-parenthood","12":"tag-parenting","13":"tag-pope-francis","14":"tag-reconciliation-and-penance","15":"tag-sacraments","16":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41875,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/pope-francis-and-parenthood\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":0},"title":"5 Things Pope Francis Can Teach Parents About Parenthood – Part 1 of 6","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Francis has taught us quite a bit about parenthood. \u00a0In word and deed and in just the first six months as \"Papa\", his words and his actions have taught us and can teach any parent something about raising children. \u00a0Today, we'd like to share some of what we've learned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis and Holy Spirit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Pope-Francis-and-HS-300x221.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42043,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/parenting-example\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":1},"title":"Pope Francis and Parenting by Example – Part 2 of 6","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"October 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. \u00a0(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2223) From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has led by example. \u00a0He has put flesh on the message, so to speak. \u00a0He as our \"Papa\" has taken ideas, concepts, and truths\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope-Francis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Pope-Francis1-300x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42689,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/pope-francis-teaching-parenthood\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":2},"title":"Part 5 of 6 – Pope Francis, Teaching, and Parenthood","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"December 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As with previous Popes, Francis teaches. \u00a0It's his job so to speak. \u00a0As parents, we also are called to be the first and primary teachers, the \"first heralds\" of the faith to our children. \u00a0We can learn a great deal about fulfilling that role by watching him do his job.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Pope-Francis-010-300x180.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42252,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/part-3-6-pope-francis-parenthood-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":3},"title":"Part 3 of 6 – Pope Francis, Parenthood, and Questions","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"November 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Another important tool for parents that we have learned from Pope Francis is the use of questions in our parenting. \u00a0In his interview with an atheist, when asked a question, Pope Francis responded with a question on several occasions. \u00a0We, as parents, can learn from this. \u00a0Questions are frequently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Pope-Francis-010-300x180.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":43618,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/four-attitudes-evangelical-parenthood\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":4},"title":"Four Attitudes of Evangelical Parenthood","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"January 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Parents are called to evangelize their children - to be evangelical parents. \u00a0Yet, all too frequently many of us fail to answer the call to share the \"Good News\" with them because we never preach the Gospel to our children. \u00a0We leave that to the priest in the Sunday homily\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/8562320076_7962a945e8_o-241x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42971,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/pope-francis-parenthood-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":42494,"position":5},"title":"Pope Francis, Parenthood, and Relationship","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"December 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The end of our parenting should be to build relationships with our children. \u00a0Without a relationship, teaching, questioning, admitting, and giving 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