Raising children for God

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 30, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

The issue of parental upbringing came to the fore with the bully video that went viral before Christmas. People began to ask: What happened to the kid that he grew up to be an arrogant bully? Public attention went to his parents. They began to ask: What kind of parenting did he receive? In fact, in a TV program, the bully’s father, apparently fed up by all these questions, texted the host: “Huwag mo akong turuan kung paano ko palalakihin ang aking anak.”

When Mary reproached (sumbat) Jesus for staying behind in Jerusalem without their knowledge, she gave Jesus the opportunity to teach about parenting. She said: “Son, why have you done this to us? Did you not know that your father and I searched for you with great sorrow?” Jesus said: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I have to be in my Father’s house?” Contrary to what many parents think that their children are theirs and that these are raised according to their own liking, Jesus, in these words, is telling Mary and Joseph: “I am yours but also not yours. I belong to you but also not to you. I belong to the Father and I must be found in my Father’s house. I must do what the Father sent me to do.”

Parents must always remember that their children are theirs but not totally theirs. They belong to the Father in heaven. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.” God entrusted his children to them. Therefore, parents fulfill the role of stewards. They raise children not for themselves but for the Father. Dear parents, you are raising sons and daughters for God. Therefore, you do not raise your children to become like yourselves. You raise them to become like Jesus because Jesus is the Son of God and therefore, he is the model of all Christian children. Most parents want their children to grow up resembling themselves. No! Let your children grow up to resemble Jesus. Your ultimate goal is not to lead your children to a successful career. Your goal must be to help them become saints. If you really love your children, you want them to go to heaven for all eternity. Therefore, teach your children to do the Father’s business. Help them discern the Father’s will at all time. “We keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment us this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.” In the end, when you bring up God-fearing children, you will have loving children.”

Bring your children to the temple as Hannah did to Samuel and offered him to God’s service. Bring them to the temple as Joseph and Mary did to Jesus. Teach them to worship God and they will be blessed: Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord. Teaching them to love God will eventually lead the way to real obedience to you. Jesus went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them because he understood that his obedience to his human parents expressed his obedience to his heavenly Father. When children are raised up to become like Jesus, they grow up like him: advanced in wisdom and age and in favor before God and men.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Holy Family: Custodian of the Incarnation

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Jesus became man in order to destroy the works of the devil. That the demons know this is shown by the fact that during exorcisms, they would greet Jesus with the words: “Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are – you are the Holy One of God.” Thus, early on in the Lord’s life on earth, the Evil one made attempts on the life of the Holy Child. This he did through King Herod: “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Herod, whose legitimacy as king is questionable because he was not a descendant of David, felt that the birth of this new-born King threatened the stability of his reign. The Light has come into the world and invites all to step into his radiance…but Herod chose to remain in the dark. The darkness of his mind was revealed when he commanded the massacre of all babies in Bethlehem and its environs. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it…no matter what it does.

The darkness tried to overcome the Light but just before it could happen, an angel of the Lord commanded St. Joseph to rise and take the child and his mother to Egypt. God, who rules the world with a mighty hand, humbled himself by submitting himself to the protection of St. Joseph. He, who delivered the people of Israel from the slavery of Egypt on the night of the Exodus, was delivered from the hands of Herod and brought to Egypt in the middle of the night. Plagues did not come. The Red Sea did not part.  Their only protection was the thick shadow of the night. Their only means of transport was a donkey. Hastily brought by St. Joseph and the Virgin, God was running for his life. The Son of God was born into a humble family to be protected by it.

Through His humble submission, Jesus our Lord shows us that the Divine Life in us is protected by the Christian family. “Whoever honors his father atones for sins and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother.” In so far as the family maintains its Christian identity and lives up to its calling to be salt and light of the world, the Divine life which Baptism imparted to its members will always be secured. When heart-felt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and mercy are practiced in a family…when love which is the bond of perfection is lived in a family, the Divine life will always be secured. 

And by remaining in the Divine Life, the family experiences joy. Pope Francis said: “Dear families, you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well...  True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey.  But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all.  And above all, a love which is patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient among ourselves. A patient love.  God alone knows how to create harmony from differences.  But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centeredness prevails and joy fades.  But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally.  Ibid. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society as a whole.” (September 27, 2013)

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee

The Distortion of Marriage

"Today, the principles of Christian morality concerning marriage are in many circles being presented in a distorted way. Attempts are being made to impose on environments and even entire societies a model that calls itself "progressive" and "modern". It then goes unnoticed that this model transforms a human being and perhaps especially a woman from a subject into an object (an object of specific manipulation), and the whole great content of love is reduced to "pleasure", which, even though it involved both parties, would still be selfish in its essence. Finally the child, who is the fruit and the fresh incarnation of the love between the two, becomes ever more "an annoying addition". The materialistic and consumeristic civilization is penetrating this whole wonderful complex of conjugal and paternal and maternal love, and stripping it of that profoundly human content which from the beginning was also permeated by a divine mark and reflection.

Dear young friends! Do not allow this treasure to be taken away from you! Do not inscribe in the plan of your life a deformed, impoverished and falsified content: love "rejoices in the truth". Seek out this truth where it is really to be found! If necessary, be resolved to go against the current of popular opinion and propaganda slogans! Do not be afraid of the love that places clear demands on people. These demands-as you find them in the constant teaching of the Church-are precisely capable of making your love a true love.

If anywhere, it is especially here that I wish to repeat the hope which I expressed at the beginning, namely, that you will be "always prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you!". The Church and humanity entrust to you the great reality of that love which is the basis of marriage, the family and the future. The Church and humanity firmly believe that you will bring about its rebirth; they firmly believe that you will make it beautiful: beautiful in a human and Christian way. In a human and Christian way great, mature and responsible. "

Blessed John Paul II, Dilecti Amici, 10.