My great niece and nephew – The Next Generation!

         These two kids are so very important in our family’s life. They don’t live so close but with FaceTime, I can see them and talk to them at a moment’s notice. I treasure any time that I spend with them! They are beautiful, smart, funny, full of life, and extremely loveable. As you might wonder about who they are, I am their very proud great-uncle. My family is small, so we don’t have many young children around, but these two give us great joy and hope for the future.

         My great niece – a pre-kindergarten student is enrolled in Catholic School. It was a great joy for my to recently celebrate Mass for the entire student body and to receive a tour of the buildings and visit her classroom – even meeting her classmates! The school is excellent! We are so pleased with the education she is receiving. At that age, they are like sponges – absorbing and retaining so much information! Catholic education has been such an important part of our family life which makes her attendance at a Catholic school so special. She loves everything about her school and from what we can see – so far – she has a bright future ahead of her!

         My great nephew has been accepted to the same pre-kindergarten program for next year. What has been so terrific is to observe how kind and polite this young boy is towards everyone he meets! People notice that about him wherever he goes. He will have no trouble adjusting to his new school and will easily make friends and excel at whatever he does. Both have some food allergies, but hopefully, in time, they will outgrow them!

         My great niece’s baptism had to be postponed because of the pandemic. But it turned out okay in the long run. With my great nephew being born so soon after his sister, they were able to be baptized in the same ceremony, in the same church, where their parents were married. Their parents are doing their best to be faithful to the promises they made at their children’s baptism: “to be the first teachers of their children in the ways of the faith.” They worship together at Mass each Sunday and try to instill the Christian values they want their children to have. The expression, “the family that prays together stays together” is our hope and our dream for their emerging family!

         With Christian values being taught at home and in school, I have tremendous hope for the future of these two children. Home and school – working together is the source of my hope. God alone knows the future! We entrust these two young and promising children into the hands of God, and we pray for them and all young children to learn the importance of their faith!

         Will it be possible for their great-uncle (who happens to be a bishop) to preside at the ceremony of Confirmation for his great-niece and great-nephew? If I am alive at that time, it would be an honor to do so. If I am in the heavenly kingdom, I will be looking upon them with great pride and joy! They are on the right track. They are discovering the most important lesson of all: God loves them immensely! There is hope for the next generation! With people like this young woman and young man coming up the ranks, the world will be a better place!