Anonymous wrote:I have 2 Catholic teens. We attend Mass weekly and have all their lives. They have been educated in Catholic schools and have been choir members and altar servers (that helps with the "boredom" aspect of Mass attendance for young kids.) That said, I fully expect them to question things. I fully expect them to have many times where parts of their faith do not appeal to them. What I do I just speak frankly about why we chose Catholic school, why I participate in church activities, the positive things that my church has brought to my life (friends, social outlets, etc) When they do service projects with the teen group I try to take a few minutes when I pick them up to remind them what a difference their participation made to the outreach group. I want them to feel good about what they've done. We talk a lot about friends and what making good choices is all about and how our faith background plays into that. I want them to look beyond themselves. I read something recently that we shouldn't get hung up on getting something out of our religion but rather having a religion that inspires us to give something to the humanity we are a part of.
I'm just trying to lay groundwork without being preachy. They may stray from the Church at some point but I want them to have positive experiences they can look back to at a time when maturity kicks in a little more.
I have two Lutheran teens and take the same approach.
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