5 Ways to Get Excited for our Faith

Susan Ciancio shares strategies for building contagious enthusiasm for the faith, and spreading that enthusiasm to your kids.

Don’t you just love people who exude excitement? They make you smile. They make you happy! They even make you excited. Why? Because excitement is contagious.

Those of us listening to the Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz know this feeling so well. On a daily basis, we hear exclamations like:

• “Oh my gosh, you guys!”
• “Thank you so much, God!”
• “Man, oh man!”
• “Golly!”
• “What a massive gift!”

The excitement Fr. Mike has for the Lord and His teachings is contagious. As I listen to him, I can’t help but get excited too. But it’s not just me. This is happening to people throughout the world. People are on fire for Our Lord! They are on fire because God’s word is shaping us. We are allowing ourselves to be transformed. And Fr. Mike facilitates this transformation with his passion, his excitement, his love, and his now-popular phrases.

Wouldn’t you love your kids to feel this kind of excitement for our faith and for building a culture of life? I know I would!

The first step in helping your children become excited is to become excited yourself! You have to be “Fr. Mike” — meaning you have to be the facilitator of the excitement. You must show your kids that you are on fire for your faith, that you love God more than anything, that you want to glorify God in everything you do, and that it’s important to you to help people understand that all human beings matter and are valued.

It’s not always easy, and of course there will be days you don’t feel any excitement. That’s okay! You don’t have to spend every waking moment mimicking Fr. Mike’s demeanor. That would be exhausting!

But showing your children excitement for our faith is extremely important. That’s why we created some practical tips for ways you can become excited yourself. And then hopefully your excitement will become as contagious as Fr. Mike’s!

1. Get in a good place mentally and spiritually

Find an aspect of the faith or of building a culture of life that brightens your day, that makes you smile, that inspires you, or that you’re excited to learn more about. Maybe it’s a saint-of-the-day book. Maybe you want to know more about a particular saint. Maybe you spiritually adopt a preborn baby or shop for moms at a crisis pregnancy center. The possibilities are endless. But take the time to learn or to do something for others. When you do something you are passionate about, you will feel more joyful — and your family will take notice.

2. Let your kids see you learning about your faith

We want to be present for our kids every waking moment. We want to play games with them, listen to them, cook for them, help with homework, and so on. And while those things are important, it’s also important that they see you taking time out of your day to pray, to read something spiritual, to listen to a podcast, or to go to Adoration. When your kids see that you are giving time to God on a regular basis, they will see the importance of faith. That doesn’t mean they’ll sit and join you, but it will make an impression. And, hopefully, as they grow, they will want to follow your example.

3. Talk to your kids about what you have learned

Dinner time, game time, and even car drives are great opportunities to say things like: “Did you know ... ?” or “Guess what I read the other day ...” Share what you learned, then ask their opinion. Get a dialog going, especially if it’s about something newsworthy. Some teens (like one of mine) don’t often join in a conversation but will listen respectfully. When they do so, we can only pray that they’re processing the information and that God is working in His time with them.

4. Involve and immerse

As parents, we often watch the same superhero movie or the same cartoons over and over again. But we are not hostages to our children’s TV viewing habits. Put some shows on that will teach them about their faith. ETWN has lots of great programming. Or turn off the TV and put on a recording of the Rosary. If you have SiriusXM in the car, tune in to the Catholic Channel (129). It has lots of great programming — even some fun shows like The Catholic Guy with Lino Rulli, who will make you laugh while teaching you about the faith!

5. When you don’t feel excited, pray or do faith-related activities anyway

Let’s face it, life is sometimes mundane and difficult. While we all strive to feel excited and on fire for Christ, sometimes we are so tired that we just want to lie on the couch and do nothing. But those are the times when we need God the most. So lie on the couch, but pray, even if it’s just one Hail Mary. Or grab a Rosary and pray a decade. You could even pick up the Bible and read a short chapter. Letting your kids see you weary is totally fine, but let them also see you draw strength from your faith.

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5 ways to show your kids that you are on fire for your faith. #catholicmom

Feeling excitement for your faith and for building a culture of life is a precursor to helping others — especially your kids — feel that excitement as well. It will build that foundation that is so necessary for them to grow to be strong men and women of faith.

Yes, some days you will need to fake the excitement, but before you know it, you will have more and more days where you truly are excited. Your kids will notice this! And hopefully, as they mature, they will feel this same excitement.

That’s building and ensuring a culture of life!

Copyright 2021 Susan Ciancio
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