University President Garvey’s monthly Catholic News Service column was on the company we keep.
St. Bonaventure says, in his little treatise "Bringing Forth Christ," "Seek the company of good people. If you share their company, you will also share their virtue." With this thought in mind, we used to pay close attention to who our children's friends were.
We encouraged them to invite kids to our house, so we could make a close inspection. When they were old enough to do sleepovers we had a lot of those. In 24 hours, you can learn a good deal about a child's table manners, personal hygiene, prayer habits, disposition, comfort around adults, intellectual interests and a dozen other things.
We sent the children to Catholic school, not just for instruction in the faith, but also because the friends they made there would come from families whose faith mattered to them.
We volunteered to drive the car pool. Young passengers in the back seat tend to think of you as a kind of taxi driver, and the conversations you overhear are unscripted and revealing. ...
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