What to Do with Our Feeling of Spiritual Inadequacy

As a parent, it may seem like a temptation to feel inadequate at times. Today's Gospel reading was a breath of fresh air. It gives hope to all parents who want to be a good example for their children but fail.

At our Parish, Little Flower Catholic Church (www.littleflowerchurch.org), Fr. Andre Leveille (Lev-ee-ay) read the lesson of Matthew the tax collector being chosen to follow Jesus Christ. Matthew was a most unlikely choice because tax collectors were known to be dishonest, unscrupulous, and awful people in Jesus' day. They would often extort monies from their assigned constituencies to make a larger profit.

Father Leveille spoke of how God chooses us to follow him and do amazing works. There is always something for us to do for Christ, he said. Because it was an awful morning getting everyone to Mass, this passage brought me much comfort when applied to parenting.

God gave me my children, and gave you your children, even though we have faults. Boy, when I look in the mirror, it seems that I have more faults than others. Yet, my years of pastoral counseling experience tell me that everyone feels like their home life is on TV when they go out in public. So, I need, we all need, to remember that regardless of our faults, God has given us children to love and care for as best we can.

What are ways that we can adequately love our children? One of them is to take the example of Matthew and be converted everyday. We must remember to work on your prayer life (see article at www.MySpiritualAdvisor.com/starting.htm if you need help with this). We need to share our prayer lives with our children. As well, we must remember to take the Eucharist as much as possible. Communing with Christ in the bread and cup is our joy as Christians.

Remember to visit the website, http://www.MySpiritualAdvisor.com for more articles and other items to help with the spiritual life.