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76 pages

English

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A trillion years from now, your child will be either in Heaven or in Hell. And this is only the beginning of eternity.In light of this eternal perspective, the time is now, Dear Parent, to raise your child to live entirely for Christ and His Church. The time is now to train your child in the Four Last Things, the spiritual life, the virtues of piety and humility, and the school of Calvary while shielding him from the errors of modernism, Protestantism, and much more.Unlike most parenting books which focus exclusively on the body and this fleeting world, this short work focuses upon your child's eternal soul. In these pages, you will be challenged to see the eternal consequence of every single parental act-acts of commission and acts of omission.The Lord has said unto you, it is better that you have a millstone hung around your neck and that you be cast into the depths of the sea than for you, Dear Parent, to lead your little one astray (Mk 9:41).

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	06 juillet 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781505121094
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Parenting for Eternity
“Dear family, from the very outset—the dedication Conor Gallagher wrote for his book (I won’t give a spoiler)—to its conclusion, Mr. Gallagher’s words are so full of Grace that your heart cannot but be moved to the core. I’ll put my money where my mouth is—I’m getting every one of my parishioners a copy because this book is priceless. It is priceless because your child’s soul is priceless. Praise be to God and thanks be to Conor Gallagher for—well, there are no words, just no words, for the Grace you will find inside.”
—Fr. James Altman, Pastor of St. James the Less Catholic Parish, La Crosse, Wisconsin
“In his latest work, Conor Gallagher stirs a generation of parents from the hypnotic trance of the modern world with an awakening to their children’s eternal destiny. Drawing from Scripture, the saints, and the masters in the spiritual life, as well as his own experiences as a father of fourteen, Gallagher offers parents a beautiful guide to keeping their children on the narrow road to Heaven. Parenting for Eternity is a book all parents should read—and then reread—as they undertake the greatest mission (and blessing) God has given us: to get our children to Heaven.”
—Carrie Gress, author of The Anti-Mary Exposed and Theology of Home
“Like many, I enjoy books filled with hard-hitting truths. But just because the truth is clear doesn’t mean living it is easy, and this is especially true in the home. Keeping our eyes fixed on both eternity and the good of our family can be a real challenge, one made harder by our endless distractions. Gallagher, as a Catholic father, offers the kind of wisdom that only comes from a deep love of truth steeped in real and raw experience. I can’t recommend it enough.”
—Jason Craig, husband, father, author, and co-founder of Fraternus
A Guide to Raising Children in Holy Mother Church
CONOR GALLAGHER
TAN BOOKS GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA
Parenting for Eternity: A Guide to Raising Children in Holy Mother Church © 2021 Conor Gallagher
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in critical review, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Scripture citations are from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.
Cover design by www.davidferrisdesign.com
Cover image: Paradiso, Canto 31: Illustration from ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Dante Alighieri, by Gustave Doré, 1832 - 1883, French / Photo © Giancarlo Costa / Bridgeman Images
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021932155
ISBN: 978-1-5051-2107-0
Kindle ISBN: 978-1-5051-2108-7
ePUB ISBN: 978-1-5051-2109-4
Published in the United States by
TAN Books
PO Box 269
Gastonia, NC 28053
www.TANBooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
To my miscarried children: I am sorry I do not think of you more often. Intercede for me, that I may one day embrace you with a father’s love.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
The Four Last Things First
The Virtue of Piety
The Virtue of Humility
A Sense of the Complete Church
Reliance on Our Lady and the Saints
Awareness of the Angelic and Demonic
The School of Calvary
A Joyous Conclusion
Appendix 1: Christ’s Fifteen Warnings on Hell
Appendix 2: Prayers & Novena for the Holy Souls
Appendix 3: The Angelus
Appendix 4: A Prayer for Your Child’s Vocation
About the Author
Image Credits
PREFACE
Dear Reader,
I, your unworthy author, must emphasize two points before you begin this little book on parenting. The first is in regard to the style of the work, and the second is a vital disclaimer.
Regarding style: I have adopted a rather antiquated style of writing for this work. Spiritual writers of old spoke directly to the reader with phrases like “Christian Reader” or “Immortal Soul” or even “Unworthy Christian.” Modern sensitivities emphasize the first-person plural pronouns of “we” and “us” in an unnecessary attempt to avoid the appearance of paternalism or arrogance. So when I address “you,” as the reader, I am truly saying “we,” for the message of this book is intended for myself as much as anyone.
Additionally, my favorite works of spirituality have a very particular voice: a voice that calls the reader to conversion, as if the author has but one page … one paragraph … one single sentence to convert the reader to Jesus Christ. Such a voice is starkly different from an intellectual work intended to convince the reader’s mind of a superior argument. Here, I hope to jar your soul to conversion with the power and beauty of truth—particularly the truth that your child will live for trillions and trillions of years in either glory or damnation and that you, Dear Parent, are the primary educator of this immortal soul.
Now, a vital disclaimer: I beg you, remember that preaching and doing are two different things. Yes, I am a parent of fourteen living children at the moment, but I fail horrifically at many of the precepts in this work, and writing it has been an examination of conscience, convicting me of my need for a lifetime of conversion and reparation.
In conclusion, here is the goal of this work in a nutshell: that you, Christian Parent, look upon your child as an immortal creature. I believe that if we truly focused on the notion of eternity, our parenting would radically change for the better.
Sincerely Yours, Conor Gallagher
INTRODUCTION
L ook at your little child. See the little smile, the little nose; see the little arms and legs; hear the sweet little voice that calls your name in joy and sorrow. If you could, you would imitate God and number the hairs upon your little one’s head (see Mt 10:30), treasuring each one, “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:34).
You will move Heaven and earth for those little limbs and little hairs—those things that were made from dust, “and into dust [they] shalt return” (Gn 3:19).
But that little soul! That little soul shall never return to dust. It shall, God willing, forever rejoice before the splendor of all that is good, true, and beautiful, reveling in inexplicable joy, overcome with inexhaustible glory, relishing every moment more and more for eternity, never slowing, never tiring, never ceasing, and never exhausting the infinity of the Beatific Vision.
Or that little soul—if it be a child of the kingdom of man (see Mt 8:12)—will suffer the threats of Jesus Christ: “The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt 13: 41–42).
Imagine, your little one surrounded with unquenchable lust and wrath. It is hard to imagine. In fact, you might find it easier to imagine a child locked in a dark cellar, abused and malnourished by the cursed hand of a demonic man. Some such children live to tell their stories. And your heart plummets to your stomach, sickened with sympathy, so grateful your child has been spared from such a plight.
But such a plight is nothing compared to the pit of Satan’s lair, where every light of hope and love is extinguished.
How foolish we are! If your sweet little one had cancer, suffering the pangs of chemotherapy, needles, and fear of the unknown—if your little daughter’s head was bald and covered with scarves or your son no longer had the strength to throw a ball—you would rightly move Heaven and earth to save your child’s body with the most innovative treatment; you would, without hesitation, work a second shift, or even beg for money from family, friends, and strangers; you would expose your own sorrow and plead for mercy from your creditors; you would cease to care about your own health, wealth, and reputation; your personal dreams would gladly be abandoned and replaced with one simple dream of holding your child’s broken body in your arms one more day. You would, indeed, die a thousand deaths to salvage your child’s one life.
But you must confront the following question with scrutiny and sincerity: how much of this paternal affection do you direct toward your little one’s soul? All your efforts to save the little heart that pumps blood, but so little effort to save the soul that lives forever. How often have you darted across the room to save your toddler from ingesting a dangerous chemical but shrugged your shoulders at the impurity on streaming video or the wrath on video games? How often have you sat on pins and needles awaiting your new driver to return home safely but think little about his soul crashing into the dregs of humanity on his smartphone? The mere thought of a man violating your teenager daughter is too much to bear, yet you hardly consider the kings of pop culture infecting her with their own moral code. “And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28).
As a parent, you must examine your conscience: do you give greater attention to your child’s physical or spiritual well-being? Have you gone to great lengths to construct your entire life around your child’s health, education, social life, and sports so they can be well-rounded, productive, and successful citizens? A resounding yes comes to mind. But have you given even 10 percent of such effort to their spiritual formation? Have you considered Heaven and hell 10 percent as much as you consider worldly success for your growing child? Perhaps you regret not having the resources to pay for college, travel, or family vacations. But do you regret not taking your child to Eucharistic Adoration and confession and helping him fall deeply—madly—in love with Our Lady?
As a parent, you must dwell upon the day of your judgment, standing on trial before the throne of God, with all the angels and saints gazing upon you and the evidence laid before the Supreme Judge. And the angelic choirs