Every night at the ending of bedtime prayers with my 9 year old son, we pray the Eternal Rest for the faithful departed, especially our loved ones and I encourage him always to pray for the most forgotten Holy Souls in Purgatory because in return their prayers for us are very powerful and beautiful because they have the sure and certain hope that they will enjoy the Beatific Vision and earnestly desire us to follow them to that same Glory.
In short, what I am trying to instil in my son is a faith-filled confidence in the life to come, a real hope that no matter what evil may befall us in this life, it is only by holding on to the hope of eternal life in Christ that we can overcome all obstacles to that joy we are destined for.
In a short time I will be speaking to him about the beauty and gift of human sexuality. I ask the Holy Souls to help me in this task so that I can spiritually inoculate him for what lies ahead.
“Be not afraid” said the great St John Paul II, and in that vein I highly recommend the excellent book;“Beyond the Birds and the Bees – Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids” by Greg and Lisa Popcak. This is a gem of a book full of practical advice for parents but suitable for anyone who wants to be better equipped intellectually and spiritually to pre-empt and fend off the inevitable attacks which will come our way and already do for many families on a daily basis. It deeply disturbs me that from September 2020, despite all the assurances of the UK Government that the parental right to legally withdraw children under 15 from classroom sex education will remain, but that nevertheless head teachers [according to the draft guidance] will be able to override that right in so called “exceptional circumstances.” For now I leave you with a comment on the cover of the Popcak book: “An answered prayer for parents working to raise faithful Catholic children in a sexually confused culture.”
I was privileged to meet Mr and Mrs Popcak and their family at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015. What a powerhouse of evangelical Catholicism they are. But whilst they espouse Catholic vision and truth they recognise that many fall short of it and are wounded so their innovative online counselling service (https://www.catholiccounselors.com/) tries to provide professional, practical, pastoral assistance to individuals and families facing all manner of problems.
