Parents are, “by word and example, to be the first preachers of the faith that their children hear” (Lumen Gentium, no. 11). Families are the “little churches,” the domestic church, where parents act as minister, catechist, theologian, tasked with the spiritual upbringing of their children. Parents are the primary weavers, guiding the child with the necessary instructions in how to forge these threads, these relationships. Children first learn how to pray, and learn the importance of prayer, from their parents. The latter may be achieved through simply and visibly practising it in the home and making it a daily priority.
In the family, faith accompanies every age of life, beginning with childhood: children learn to trust in the love of their parents. That is why it is so important that within their families parents encourage shared expressions of faith which can help children gradually to mature in their own faith. Young people in particular, who are going through a period in their lives which is so complex, rich and important for their faith, ought to feel the constant closeness and support of their families and the Church in their journeys of faith. (Pope Francis, The Light of Faith, no. 53)
