Spiritual Seeds for a Family Garden with Phil Catalfo

Program Description

Are we giving our children the right tools to reach the potential we saw in their eyes on the day they were born? How do we present them with the spiritual foundation–the true security–they need to flower on this earth? Phil Catalfo tackles this monumental responsibility in a heartfelt discussion about how we, as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, can guide our children’s spiritual development at a time when we are questioning our own. As we become disenchanted with the all-too-material world in which we live, Catalfo feels we must not only foster our children’s spiritual growth, but we also need to help them find a way to apply it in this world. He says, “Frankly our culture is alienating and soul-corroding, predicated principally on the pursuit of material advance, not on the pursuit of meaning and intrinsic human value.”

Catalfo is a widely published freelance writer, who specializes in spirituality, health and family issues. He is the author of Raising Spiritual Children in a Material World: Introducing Spirituality Into Family Life (Berkeley Books 1997).

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• How to pay attention to your child’s innate spirituality
• Where religious freedom begins: at home
• Family spiritual practices that make sense today
• Cultivating religious freedom in your home
• Teaching your child about God
• Providing spiritual guidance while you seek answers yourself
• How our children teach us
• Nurturing your family’s spiritual growth
• The changing role of religion

Program Number: 2618              Host: Michael Toms              Interview Date: 3/5/1997