I recently read pastor and author Mark Holmen speak on the role of the family in inculcating faith. He presented research by the Search Institute on the most significant religious influences on a child’s faith. It isn’t the programs at their church, the pastor or their youth pastor; it is their parents, particularly the mother being the most influential and the father the second most influential. That’s right the parents play the most crucial role. Wouldn’t it be easier if the answer were to outsource our children’s spiritual lives to a professional, as we do with soccer, piano or dance? The research is clear, however: having faithful parents is by far the best indication that a child will continue to attend church as an adult. Once parents come to terms with their indispensable role in their children’s faith, their next question for Holmen is what they should be doing at home. Again, the answer isn’t for parents to launch a snazzy faith program at home, but for them to do the simple but challenging work of living the Christian life, day in and day out, in front of their children. A key part of that laudatory example is to attend Sunday mass together not occasionally nor when it is convenient but each and every Sunday. The children notice our commitment to what is important. They notice for our actions speak louder than our words.