6 minute read
TAKING FIRST FAITH STEPS
Josh and Laura Kiger Help Others With Baptism, RCIA and Marriage Prep
BY BONNY VAN
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When it comes to sharing and teaching the Catholic faith, two minds are better than one and, in this case, two hearts are better than one. That’s because Josh and Laura Kiger have a true love for sharing their faith as they help others prepare for their own life-long Catholic journeys through baptism, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and Pre-Cana.
“Our involvement in ministry started with Josh going through the RCIA journey and becoming Catholic,” said Laura, a cradle Catholic who grew up attending Catholic schools. “After Josh was fully initiated, we joined the RCIA Team [in 2016]. Shortly after we were married, we were invited to join the Pre-Cana ministry, and then we were approached about baptism prep.” According to Laura, the invitation was key to the couple’s involvement in all of their ministries.
“Invitation is key to evangelization, parish life and ministry,” she said. “I’m not sure if I ever would have been brave enough to ask to join Pre-Cana ministry, but I was so happy to accept the invitation. Same for baptism prep. We never would have thought to seek it out, but we were so excited to get involved when someone reached out to us.”
“I think we were approached because of our age and how critical it is for some young families to see people in their own generation on fire with faith and giving back to the Church,” said Josh. “So many young people are choosing a different path these days for themselves and their children and it’s on all of us to meet them where they are and invite them to, or back to, Christ.” The Kigers will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in November and they have been involved in these ministries and others at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (IHM) in Anderson Township for nearly as long. Now, Josh also serves as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion while Laura participates in Bible study and IHM’s Women’s Wednesday group. And if that weren’t enough to fill their schedules, the couple has two children, Jude, 3, and Lily, eight months.
The couple rotates the once-a-month baptism classes with another couple while Pre-Cana is only two weekends per year.
“RCIA is the hardest to make time for now with children,” Josh said. “Once we had children, Laura has participated less actively in RCIA, public speaking being more my thing, but she still helps me through my planning for presentations.”
Nearby family support also helps the couple manage their time. “We were able to attend the Vigil this year and that was really, really lovely,” said Josh. “We’re all called to evangelize and to give back and to build up Christ’s Church on earth, and these ministries are one of the ways we get to do that.”
First Lessons in Faith
Sewing Seeds of Faith in the Early Years
BY KATIE SCIBA
From the initial moments of life until death, children pay close attention to their parents’ attitudes, approaches and passions. They take on our personality traits and values not by formal instruction, but from just watching us. Our kids will learn how important faith is according to how we live it.
PREPARE FERTILE GROUND Though it’s paramount that we teach our children prayers and practices, it’s equally necessary for we parents tend to our own souls. We are made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26), and the whole of our lives is meant to be an imitation of our Creator. The Lord imprinted Himself in our humanity, so giving our hearts over to God will not only deepen our intimacy with Him, but also yield a stronger confidence in ourselves as well as a closer imitation of God’s mercy toward His own children.
Jesus spoke honestly in John 15:5, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” It’s fact that a vine cannot function away from the branches, that a sheep will lose itself when it leaves the voice of the shepherd. If we parents pray, knowing we depend entirely on providence for everything, then we’ll begin to reflect God’s parenting in our own.
TEND WITH CARE “Teach a child in the way he should go and when he is older, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6) This proverb underscores the staying power of lessons taught in youth. Our kids need to learn prayers, but we should check our expectations. Young souls have short attention spans and will likely get the wiggles when they’re supposed to be still. Keep prayer time brief and be patient with questions, inattention and curiosity.
Start with a short, daily prayer time. Just like a congregation learns responses through regular Mass attendance, children learn rote prayers when they hear them often. Thank God for graces and blessings, then invite them to do the same. Ask God for needs and wants, so they will, too. Read from an illustrated Children’s Bible to introduce them to the kindness and power of Christ.
PREP FOR SUCCESS The rubber really hits the road when we go to Mass with our little ones. Before heading out the door, make sure everyone uses the bathroom and feed children who don’t need to observe the fast before receiving Holy Communion. Meeting these basic needs will support good behavior.
Read the next Sunday’s Gospel to your kids during the week leading up to Mass. Have a conversation about it. When they hear the reading on Sunday, they’ll get excited!
Though you might be inclined to take a seat in the back of the church, the best spot for a child’s participation in Mass is right up front. Quietly talk to your children – ask them where the priest is and what he’s doing. Use simple terms to talk about the mysteries of our faith: “Jesus is God and He sends the Holy Spirit to turn the bread into His body. It’s a miracle.”
Remember that even when kids misbehave, distract others or get bored in Mass, just bringing them before God is an incredible grace. Nothing compares to presenting ourselves as humbled parents with the children God gave to us. The benefit is eternal life, salvation, grace and intimacy with Jesus – and so worth the challenge.
FRUITS OF OUR LABORS The fruit of doing all of the above is a cultivated relationship between our children and the Lord. In witnessing our faith, they learn how to pray, how to trust and reverence before God. Of course, it’s easy to talk about it and a little more of an effort to put it into practice. We’ll learn just like our children, so while we’re trying to extend them grace, we should do the same for ourselves. Parenting in general is hard; parenting while trying to foster intimacy between child and God is harder.
The work is sacred, and Jesus upholds us with grace to do what He asks. It’s all possible because we’re fashioned in His image, and in drawing closer to Him ourselves, we’ll spread love of our Catholic faith in such a way that will carry on for generations.
