This week we will
pause to contemplate the gifts God has given us. We begin with our parents.
Scriptures for meditation Exodus 20:12:
"Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land
the Lord your God is giving you."
Proverbs 1:8:
"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your
mother's teaching."
Proverbs 10:1:
"The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a
foolish son grief to his mother."
Proverbs 23:25:
"May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth
rejoice!"
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church teaches us: 2214: The divine fatherhood is the source
of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents. The
respect of children, whether minors or adults, for their father and mother, is
nourished by the natural affection born of the bond uniting them. It is
required by God’s commandment. 2218: The
fourth commandment reminds grown children of their responsibilities toward their parents. As much as they can, they
must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness,
loneliness, or distress. Jesus recalls this duty of gratitude. (Found in
Matthew 7:10-12). For the Lord honored
the father above the children, and he confirmed the right of the mother over
her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and whoever glorifies his
mother is like one who lays up treasure. Whoever honors his father will be
gladdened by his own children, and when he prays he will be heard. Whoever
glorifies his father will have long life, and whoever obeys the Lord will
refresh his mother.” (Sirach 3:2-6)
By Tim Russert Washington bureau chief NBC News
EThttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19174679/ns/meet_the_press/t/wisdom-our-fathers/#.UKgDlYdX1ng
In the spring of 2004, I published a book about my
father—about the lessons I have learned from him, the ways he has influenced
me, and my enormous love and respect for this steady, hardworking, and modest
man. Big Russ & Me came
out in May, and my publisher sent me on a publicity tour in the hope that
people around the country would see the book as an ideal Father’s Day gift.
Early in the tour I was in Chicago, where, to my great relief, customers were
lining up to buy the book and have me autograph it. What happened next really
surprised me.
“Make it out to Big Mike,” somebody told me, which was
followed in rapid succession by:
“This is for Big Mario.”
“Please inscribe it to Big Manuel.”
“For Big Irv.”
“Big Willie.”
“Big Stan.”
I had expected that my book would appeal to readers in my
hometown of Buffalo, New York, but I didn’t know whether the story of a young
man coming of age in a blue-collar Irish-Catholic neighborhood, whose father
was a truck driver and sanitation man, would strike a chord with a wider
audience. As I soon discovered, there were many Big Russes out there—good,
industrious, patriotic men who had a lot in common with my dad, even if they
didn’t share his religion or heritage. By writing a book about my father, I was
affirming not only his life, but the lives of many other fathers as well.
My thoughts: This
week we will take time to think about and thank God for the gifts He has given
us, ones we probably overlook in our daily lives. I start with our parents, all
parents: single, adoptive, birth, foster, grand, great-grand: all parents who
have given us life, who have given us a home, taught us to walk and talk,
kissed us good-night and taught us to know and love God in this world so as to
be happy with Him in the next. If you were blessed with wonderful parents,
thank God for them. If your parents were not so great, forgive them. If you are
at odds with your parents, bury your pride and make up with them. God chose our
parents for us. We must pray for them and honor them. Let us thank God for
them, and pray we will be honorable parents as well.
Just a thought: "Admirable parents indeed! Only in Heaven shall I
fully understand the vigilance, devotedness and love of my mother and
father...I thank Thee for having spared, until this day, these two beings who
ever preferred Thy good pleasure to their own gratification and did not
hesitate to sacrifice what was dearer to them than life itself...To prove my
gratitude, I am in duty bound to become a Saint. I have contracted a sacred
debt which I must discharge at all costs...Yes I will become a Saint. I will
become holy to the degree God has marked out for me. Thus may I repay them for
the pains they have taken for my education and console them in their grief over
our separation." Blessed Dina Belanger
Prayer: Our Father, Who art in heaven, bless my father and
mother, my guardians, and those who are in authority over me, for their love
and tender care for me, and the benefits I receive at their hands. Help me, I
pray Thee, to be respectful and obedient to them in all matters according to
Thy will; and give me Thy grace to perform all my duties carefully and
faithfully, to avoid undesirable company and influence, and resist all
temptation that may come my way; that I may live a sober, righteous and godly
life, ever praising Thee and glorifying Thy Holy Name. Amen. http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/prayers/prparents.html
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