Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
As parents, training our children is always a challenge. We may succeed here or there, but the consistency suffers throughout the year. Lent is a great way to practice training consistently. What we want to do is provide patterns that they will carry throughout life. Training is more than memorizing things or learning new things, training is catechizing our children in the way of truth.
Lent gives us the perfect training theme: the cross of Jesus. The cross instructs us and our children that there is no glory before crown; no victory before war and no feast before fast. The cross teaches that in serving one another we are truly free.
Our children need habits more than facts. They need to see the cross of Jesus as the center of their formation. They need the crucified Lord as their Savior. Once the cross becomes the great marker in their journey they will not depart from it. They will live their lives feasting in the empty tomb. Blessed Lent!
