Recently, a friend of mine and partner parish facilitator, Leah, shared with me a Facebook post from a visiting priest, Father Tyler Tenbarge, that moved me deeply. He had spent the day speaking and ministering in parishes, but what struck him most wasn’t the emails he answered or the talks he gave: it was what he saw God doing in the hearts of families.
After a morning in Vincennes, he arrived early at Haubstadt and decided to spend a holy hour in the parish church. Expecting solitude, he instead found something far more profound: two families, quietly praying with their children before the Blessed Sacrament.
One young mother had her sons seated on the first step before the altar, coloring peacefully under the gaze of Jesus in the monstrance. Another mother entered with several children, each carrying a prayer book, each reverent and still. One boy knelt for so long in prayer that the priest noted he might still be kneeling in the photo he took.
This wasn’t a large-scale scheduled event. It wasn’t a program or a retreat. It was simply families choosing to bring their children into the presence of Christ in the middle of the day. And in that moment, the priest realized something powerful: this is what makes the greatest difference.
He wrote, “Folks, it isn’t complicated. Whether you are a teacher at a Catholic school or a priest, whether you are a parent of toddlers or a parent of teenagers … do the one thing that you don’t have to do. Take everything to Jesus Christ, and let Him take over. It’ll be the most fulfilling thing you can do.”
As someone who has spent years helping youth encounter the Holy Spirit, this reflection resonated deeply with me. It reminded me that the most transformative moments often happen quietly, in the ordinary rhythms of family life, when parents model prayer, when children learn reverence not from a lesson plan but from watching their mom and dad kneel.
This is the quiet revolution happening in our parishes. It’s worth it. It’s amazing. And it’s making a difference.