catholicfamilyformation.org

Institute for Catholic Family Formation | catholic parenting

catholicfamilyformation.org

The Answer to the Family Problem

There is a moment every parent eventually faces, a quiet, unsettling realization that good intentions are not enough. We look at our children, at the culture pressing in on them, and we feel the gap between the home we want to build and the one we are actually living in.
For years, I watched families I loved wrestle with this. Faithful parents. Good parents. Parents who wanted holiness for their children but felt overwhelmed, under formed, or simply unsure where to begin.
And I realized something essential: Parents do not fail because they do not care. They struggle because no one ever formed them.
The Real Crisis Is Not in the Children, It Is in the Formation of Parents
In my work with Catholic schools, parishes, and families, I kept seeing the same pattern:
Parents were hungry for clarity. They wanted a spiritual plan. They wanted to lead their children with confidence. But they had never been taught how. We hand parents the most important vocation in the world, the formation of …

catholicfamilyformation.org

Brat Behavior in Children: A Thomistic Guide to Virtue Formation

What Causes a Brat?
The occurrence of a brat is not random. It is the predictable result of psychological and moral deficiencies that arise when a child is not properly formed in virtue. According to classical Christian anthropology, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, human beings are designed to grow in virtue as they mature. These virtues do not appear overnight. They must be cultivated slowly, intentionally, and consistently.
Parents play the central role in this cultivation. Their task is to guide the child at each stage of development, helping them acquire the virtues proper to their age. When this formation is absent, the child inevitably becomes a brat.
Definition: What Is a Brat?
A brat is a person who:
demands that his whims be satisfied,
becomes angry when they are not, and
possesses the ability to control himself but chooses not to.
Babies cry when they do not get what they want, but we do not call babies brats because they are not yet capable of self‑control. A brat, therefore …