Family Life: The Ultimate School of Faith and Holiness, by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, July 25, 2025

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org.  See full bio.

I have been discussing how to draw others to Christ and the Church, but when it comes to forming people as committed Catholics who will devote themselves to doing God’s will throughout their lives, nothing beats the family. It never fails to astonish me how frequently Catholics tend to ignore this fundamental factor in the salvation of their children. The Catholic family is the ultimate school of holiness for any and all paths in life, and young people who start life without a solid formation in both love and grace suffer an enormous disadvantage when navigating the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. The family is by God’s own design not only the ultimate but the most intimate school of love, grace, trust in God, human stability, and well-being. And this sort of family begins with the marriage of two highly-committed and well-developed Catholics.

Perhaps the first and most common mistake we tend to make in forming families today is the separation of the idea of family life from the idea of romance. From the very first “date”, young men and women should be asking themselves whether the person with whom they are risking romantic involvement would make not only a good life-long partner but a good father or a good mother—and that begins with a shared Faith. …

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