As parents, I am sure that we all have a little fear of the time when our children graduate and head off to college or move out on their own. We wonder what they are doing, if they’re getting to Mass on the weekends, if they are in some way continuing to grow in their relationship with Christ, etc. etc.

A good example of this happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was attending my last Certificate for Youth Ministry Studies class and the instructor commented on how his oldest daughter, to save money, had moved back home while attending college, a 20-minute commute.

He said his wife would get really upset when his daughter, who was in her early 20’s, did not call when she was staying out late, did not let them know where she was going, etc. I’m sure you are getting the picture.

I commented that he should tell his wife that if their daughter were away at college, they wouldn’t know what she was doing all of the time. He said he did this, but it didn’t seem to help.

I would like to let everyone know that as we face some of these fears and uncertainties about our children, rest assured, they are doing fine.

Recently, I witnessed this in two different settings. The first was when I had a meeting in Manhattan. That evening I tried to take as many of our young people attending K-State out to dinner that I could reach. Here I was able to enjoy a nice meal with 15 of our diocesan youth. The other was just last week when my wife Pam and I traveled to Pratt to hear my two daughters sing in a concert. My oldest daughter sings in Pratt Community College’s choir. Of course, as we listened to these groups sing, some of the young people were still in high school and very involved in their parish’s youth group, but there was also another young lady, Lindsay Meierhoff, in the college group from our parish in Ulysses.

As I ate dinner with the kids at K-State, and as I listened to each of these young people sing, I was able to see the joy in their eyes and in their smiles. With this, I can confidently say to everyone, our young people are alive, well and doing marvelous things. They are celebrating their faith and bringing the joy of Christ and His message to many people.

As I think back on these two events and reflect on many others, I am reassured that Our Faith is Caught—Not Taught. Parents, you are doing a marvelous job in the life of your child. Don’t worry; over the years while serving as the first and primary teachers of the faith, you have helped your children catch something very strong and powerful. As they have moved onto the next part of their life, they too are helping others catch this same Spirit of love, laughter and joy.

Parents, thank you for all that you have done, and most of all for continuing to share your children with my family and me. We have caught so much from each of them.