Unfortunately, it is not hard to see that the culture today is largely devoid of God. Whether it be in our schools, media, our extended family expectations, business, our jobs, sports, the daily tasks of life – the culture is becoming more devoid of God every day. While there is always hope, we still need to understand and realize the problem we are dealing with in the culture today. The fact that 80% of our youth are falling away from the faith is devastating. It’s an epidemic. We have not figured out how to transmit our faith.

The fact that 80% of our youth are falling away from the faith is devastating...we have not figured out how to transmit our faith.

This is a crisis in the American Catholic Church, and it calls for a radical, clear, and intentional response.

Will we put God and our families before the culture? Will we take our cues about how to form our lives from the culture or from God?  We have to answer this in a clear and radical way if we want a shot at an opportunity to pass the faith onto our children.

So how do we begin living a dynamic Catholic family life?

Our goal as dynamic families is to effectively transmit our faith and utilize the tools we have been given by God and His Church. We are called to live from the grace we receive in the sacraments and the Church and to bring that grace into our homes to create a domestic type church and to take ownership as parents to create an environment where our faith can be transmitted.

Here are some tips to living out a dynamic Catholic family life: 

• Family prayer.  Are you taking time for family prayer on a regular basis? It is so important to anchor your day with prayer and let those graces flow throughout the day within your family.
  
• Family meals.  This is a great time to share and engage in conversation with one another and really cultivate and grow those relationships within your family. 
  
• Personal prayer.  Each family member should cultivate a personal prayer life! God our Father knows us all so personally and individually and this is a great way to grow in relationship with Him which will help us to grow in relationship with others. 
  
• Teaching. As a mom and dad, are we teaching our kids how to do personal prayer? A great time to do this would be during family prayer and meals.  It only takes five minutes to sit and teach your kids how to pray. With the business of life, this can be a hard thing to integrate, but it is well worth the challenge!

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Take action on one thing this week with your family, whether it be family prayer, family meals, personal prayer or teaching your kids about the faith. It is time to take ownership of faith in your family! 

Listen to the full interview and hear more tips on living a dynamic Catholic family life: