Sometimes we don’t need to know everything immediately

By Casey Sprehe, NOLA Catholic Parenting

School shooting. Ethnic persecution. Government shutdown. Church massacre.

Check the news on your phone or TV, and you are instantly bombarded with evil. In the interconnectedness of our world, we know about tragedies on the other side of the world as soon as and as often as they happen.

Our lives can easily be inundated with gloom and offense by staying connected to the world.

Man fell, and original sin entered the world. Terrible events happen hourly around the world.

However, we weren’t created to be receiving a constant stream of evil. We were created for goodness and with the greatness of he who is in us.

Such heaviness fills our hearts and minds and leaves little to no room to be emotionally present for those closest to us. The evil one hopes this would happen.

As a mother, I find it imprudent to tune in the 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. television news because the more connected I am to the happenings of the day, the less connected I am to my children before me, the less emotional capacity I have to meet them in their little sufferings of the day and what aches their fragile hearts.

They aren’t just mini adults. They are children who need shepherding and mentoring. I need to take up my responsibility to those entrusted to me. One way I can do that is turning off the news and tuning into them more.

Casey Sprehe is a wife, mother and parishioner of St. Benilde Parish in Metairie. She spends most of her time schooling her two oldest, playing with her two youngest and trying to remain sane amidst the lives entrusted to her.

Outside of the home, she is highly involved in the Charismatic Renewal. Having a high school reversion back to the faith, she enjoys speaking at retreats and conferences around the country. With a master’s degree in catechesis and evangelization, she has a heart for the new evangelization as she ministers. Her three favorite things to do are: take walks, take showers and take-out.