“Souls in training”
Juan and Sofia were born into Catholic families in Colombia, South America. They met on Juan’s Patron Saint Feast Day, Saint John Bosco, January 31st and recently got married on the 31st of July. Both have encountered Jesus in their lives and decided to follow him with great commitment.
Juan is a Political Scientist and also a great golfer. He works in the Wine and Spirits Industry.
Sofia is a commercial real estate lawyer and works at her family-owned business. They currently live in Cali, Colombia.
Juan and Sofia are increasingly passionate about the apostolic mission with the youth and young professionals. They are committed to showing the love of God and his mysteries through the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and friendship. Both have lived their conversion through different spiritualities within the Church, such as the charismatic renewal, parish groups (Emaus and Effeta), Mana (a self-founded apostolic group) and Opus Dei. This last one is currently where both congregate and receive all their spiritual formation and guidance. Although they have much to learn, they are eager to share their testimony with all the readers.
As parents, God has entrusted us with a mission, to form souls for Heaven, being a bridge and instrument of his sanctifying grace. This is how the Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X teaches us, “Parents…have an obligation to ensure that their children and dependents learn Christian doctrine….”1
This vocational call invites us to live four important aspects within the framework of our faith in order to undertake this mission with our children:
- Doctrinal Formation
It is very important that we as parents are in constant formation, nourishing ourselves with the teachings of the Church’s catechism, meditating on sacred scripture and reading doctrinal documents such as encyclicals, apostolic letters, and writings of the fathers of the Church.
In this we will understand that the true catechists of our children are ourselves. With a correct doctrine, we will guide our descendants in the daily learning of the “misteryum fidei,” or mystery of faith. It is our responsibility to ensure that in the home, all doubts that may exist about the Catholic faith are clarified and thus promote an apologetic spirit for the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
- Prayer
We can only give our children what is in our soul, so to transmit the love of God present in our daily lives, we need a life rich in prayer. In prayer, we are “heart to heart” with God. Our whole being turns to him as we allow him to enter our soul and teach us to love more and more; to help us to understand others so that we may lead them to him. In short, our life as apostles is worth what our prayer is worth.
- Live the Gospel
We must put into practice the teachings that Jesus gives us in the Gospel, through the fulfillment of our daily tasks. It is to give life to each message that God in Christ Jesus entrusted to us, as an “ipse christus,” (another Christ).
- Sacramental Life
Going regularly to receive the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist, are a primary source of grace for our souls. It is here where we purify our domestic church and fill it with the power of the Holy Spirit. May our example infect our children with the desire to frequently go to the source of grace that we find in the Sacraments. There, the Spirit will renew the grace of loving the Eucharist and will give new gifts to these, his children, that he has entrusted to us.
Training souls for heaven is not easy! That is why we must entrust our children to our Blessed Mother. Mary, Regína famíliæ, Ora pro Nobis! (Mary, Queen of the family, pray for us!)
1 Saint Josemaría, Christ is Passing By, no. 119
