Warning: This could be my most unpopular blog yet!
There is a phenomenon happening right before our very eyes, and yet I have been watching it over the past decade. I started looking at it because it was affecting my family, and surprisingly, I did nothing about it.
What if I told you that Satan has been preparing to capture your teen’s mind for several years and he has a great chance of doing so by the time they’re living on their own? In fact, you might actually be paying fifty to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for that deception.
While preaching a mission out of town, I was having dinner with the parish mission team at a popular local restaurant. It was a sports bar type of establishment with TVs everywhere. I looked up at one moment and saw what appeared to be parents or at least alumni of whatever college team was playing at the time.
The level of passion this one woman was displaying after a big play was made captivated me. She was all into that game. Her energy was very high and she was a serious fan. No doubt she was having a wonderful time, sharing in this fun experience.
I think it is safe to say that a high percentage of those adults who graduated from a University are faithful fans of their school’s sports team, especially if they are from the big program schools. Those adults then get married and have kids that they would “love” to see go to their alma mater, thus keeping the excitement of their college alive within the family. There is nothing morally wrong with any of this. What fun!!!
Where it becomes challenging is for the Christian/Catholic who has come to encounter Christ in their young adulthood and now finds themselves with teen children preparing to go to college. They are now conflicted because they love their alma mater, but they now have a different worldview that is not being promoted by their school. In fact, very few colleges and universities have a Christian/Catholic worldview.
Our teens leave for college believing in Jesus and hopefully walking with him. Then they graduate from their university strongly challenging the existence of God. Parents, who continue to learn more about God’s truth, are waking up to the lies that Satan has been spewing in the world. They want to share their concern with their own kids, but now find their grown children not only absent from church, but living in mortal sin.
What is the value of preparing our teens for life on earth
only to discover that our guidance actually led them
away from attaining life with God in heaven?
Satan is real, and he is playing for keeps. All he wants to do is destroy human lives that were meant for so much more. He wants to rob us and our children of our true identity as sons and daughters of God.
I believe parents must wake up and pay strong attention to the colleges we are sending our teens to. We need to look beyond the great athletic programs or even amazing Ivy League reputations, and pay attention to what they are teaching our children.
Is your relationship with the living God the most important part of your life? If it is, then it should trump all other considerations when guiding our teens towards colleges. Unfortunately, there are many Catholic universities (and high schools) that are “Catholic” in name only. Their roots may still say Catholic, but all you have to do is watch what their student life programs promote, and you will see their real stripes.
I know plenty of parents who are looking back and quietly questioning why they allowed their teens to go to that school. They were taught nothing but anti-God secularism, socialism, and a great lack of appreciation for this amazing country.
Parents, the time has come for us to share our concerns so that future generations can get back on course and meet us in Heaven. Do the work, study, prepare, and pray because you must be able to explain why your kids can’t go to the universities that everyone else is going to.
Come Holy Spirit and help us.
This is happening WAY before college. No matter what schooling a child gets, they have to be prepared – starting very young and whenever they are in the care of others. They need to be taught and armed with strong values even into adulthood so they can sustain those values no matter what environment they are embedded in. It’s okay – and even necessary for parents to express to their adult children when something is not in line with their family values and a redirection is needed. If Jesus taught adults – parents hold the responsibility to advise/teach their children – even and especially as adults.
Well said, Lori AMEN!!!!
Sorrowful reading, but so true. Being a senior my children are grown, but I sure worry about my grand and great children. I wouldn’t want to raise a family in this crazy world. All I can do is pray for them all! Come Holy Spirit touch the hearts of our young people as they journey through life. Keep them safe from evil one. St. Michael …. Pray for us all! Amen!
Prayer is Good Curtis but I believe you can do more. As Men, Fathers, Protectors of our families, we must speak up about the truth. The Son still rises and sets on the word you say. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you the words to say. So that your kids can see where they might be blinded.
So true! Most young adults loose their faith in college. Even in many Catholic “in name only” schools. They Started out strongly Catholic and have become secularized for many reasons. Franciscan University and other schools listed in the Neuman Guide are the few exceptions.